Professor Horner’s Reading Plan

¹After this there was a feast of the Jews, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem.

²Now there is in Jerusalem by the Sheep Gate a pool, which is called in Hebrew, Bethesda, having five porches.

³In these lay a great multitude of sick people, blind, lame, paralyzed, waiting for the moving of the water.

⁴For an angel went down at a certain time into the pool and stirred up the water; then whoever stepped in first, after the stirring of the water, was made well of whatever disease he had.

⁵Now a certain man was there who had an infirmity thirty-eight years.

⁶When Jesus saw him lying there, and knew that he already had been in that condition a long time, He said to him, “Do you want to be made well?”

⁷The sick man answered Him, “Sir, I have no man to put me into the pool when the water is stirred up; but while I am coming, another steps down before me.”

⁸Jesus said to him, “Rise, take up your bed and walk.”

⁹And immediately the man was made well, took up his bed, and walked. And that day was the Sabbath.

¹⁰The Jews therefore said to him who was cured, “It is the Sabbath; it is not lawful for you to carry your bed.”

¹¹He answered them, “He who made me well said to me, ‘Take up your bed and walk.’ ”

¹²Then they asked him, “Who is the Man who said to you, ‘Take up your bed and walk’?”

¹³But the one who was healed did not know who it was, for Jesus had withdrawn, a multitude being in that place.

¹⁴Afterward Jesus found him in the temple, and said to him, “See, you have been made well. Sin no more, lest a worse thing come upon you.”

¹⁵The man departed and told the Jews that it was Jesus who had made him well.

¹⁶For this reason the Jews persecuted Jesus, and sought to kill Him, because He had done these things on the Sabbath.

¹⁷But Jesus answered them, “My Father has been working until now, and I have been working.”

¹⁸Therefore the Jews sought all the more to kill Him, because He not only broke the Sabbath, but also said that God was His Father, making Himself equal with God.

¹⁹Then Jesus answered and said to them, “Most assuredly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of Himself, but what He sees the Father do; for whatever He does, the Son also does in like manner.

²⁰For the Father loves the Son, and shows Him all things that He Himself does; and He will show Him greater works than these, that you may marvel.

²¹For as the Father raises the dead and gives life to them, even so the Son gives life to whom He will.

²²For the Father judges no one, but has committed all judgment to the Son,

²³that all should honor the Son just as they honor the Father. He who does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent Him.

²⁴“Most assuredly, I say to you, he who hears My word and believes in Him who sent Me has everlasting life, and shall not come into judgment, but has passed from death into life.

²⁵Most assuredly, I say to you, the hour is coming, and now is, when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God; and those who hear will live.

²⁶For as the Father has life in Himself, so He has granted the Son to have life in Himself,

²⁷and has given Him authority to execute judgment also, because He is the Son of Man.

²⁸Do not marvel at this; for the hour is coming in which all who are in the graves will hear His voice

²⁹and come forth— those who have done good, to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil, to the resurrection of condemnation.

³⁰I can of Myself do nothing. As I hear, I judge; and My judgment is righteous, because I do not seek My own will but the will of the Father who sent Me.

³¹“If I bear witness of Myself, My witness is not true.

³²There is another who bears witness of Me, and I know that the witness which He witnesses of Me is true.

³³You have sent to John, and he has borne witness to the truth.

³⁴Yet I do not receive testimony from man, but I say these things that you may be saved.

³⁵He was the burning and shining lamp, and you were willing for a time to rejoice in his light.

³⁶But I have a greater witness than John’s; for the works which the Father has given Me to finish—the very works that I do—bear witness of Me, that the Father has sent Me.

³⁷And the Father Himself, who sent Me, has testified of Me. You have neither heard His voice at any time, nor seen His form.

³⁸But you do not have His word abiding in you, because whom He sent, Him you do not believe.

³⁹You search the Scriptures, for in them you think you have eternal life; and these are they which testify of Me.

⁴⁰But you are not willing to come to Me that you may have life.

⁴¹“I do not receive honor from men.

⁴²But I know you, that you do not have the love of God in you.

⁴³I have come in My Father’s name, and you do not receive Me; if another comes in his own name, him you will receive.

⁴⁴How can you believe, who receive honor from one another, and do not seek the honor that comes from the only God?

⁴⁵Do not think that I shall accuse you to the Father; there is one who accuses you—Moses, in whom you trust.

⁴⁶For if you believed Moses, you would believe Me; for he wrote about Me.

⁴⁷But if you do not believe his writings, how will you believe My words?”

¹“Hear, O Israel: You are to cross over the Jordan today, and go in to dispossess nations greater and mightier than yourself, cities great and fortified up to heaven,

²a people great and tall, the descendants of the Anakim, whom you know, and of whom you heard it said, ‘Who can stand before the descendants of Anak?’

³Therefore understand today that the LORD your God is He who goes over before you as a consuming fire. He will destroy them and bring them down before you; so you shall drive them out and destroy them quickly, as the LORD has said to you.

⁴“Do not think in your heart, after the LORD your God has cast them out before you, saying, ‘Because of my righteousness the LORD has brought me in to possess this land’; but it is because of the wickedness of these nations that the LORD is driving them out from before you.

⁵It is not because of your righteousness or the uprightness of your heart that you go in to possess their land, but because of the wickedness of these nations that the LORD your God drives them out from before you, and that He may fulfill the word which the LORD swore to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.

⁶Therefore understand that the LORD your God is not giving you this good land to possess because of your righteousness, for you are a stiff-necked people.

⁷“Remember! Do not forget how you provoked the LORD your God to wrath in the wilderness. From the day that you departed from the land of Egypt until you came to this place, you have been rebellious against the LORD.

⁸Also in Horeb you provoked the LORD to wrath, so that the LORD was angry enough with you to have destroyed you.

⁹When I went up into the mountain to receive the tablets of stone, the tablets of the covenant which the LORD made with you, then I stayed on the mountain forty days and forty nights. I neither ate bread nor drank water.

¹⁰Then the LORD delivered to me two tablets of stone written with the finger of God, and on them were all the words which the LORD had spoken to you on the mountain from the midst of the fire in the day of the assembly.

¹¹And it came to pass, at the end of forty days and forty nights, that the LORD gave me the two tablets of stone, the tablets of the covenant.

¹²“Then the LORD said to me, ‘Arise, go down quickly from here, for your people whom you brought out of Egypt have acted corruptly; they have quickly turned aside from the way which I commanded them; they have made themselves a molded image.’

¹³“Furthermore the LORD spoke to me, saying, ‘I have seen this people, and indeed they are a stiff-necked people.

¹⁴Let Me alone, that I may destroy them and blot out their name from under heaven; and I will make of you a nation mightier and greater than they.’

¹⁵“So I turned and came down from the mountain, and the mountain burned with fire; and the two tablets of the covenant were in my two hands.

¹⁶And I looked, and behold, you had sinned against the LORD your God—had made for yourselves a molded calf! You had turned aside quickly from the way which the LORD had commanded you.

¹⁷Then I took the two tablets and threw them out of my two hands and broke them before your eyes.

¹⁸And I fell down before the LORD, as at the first, forty days and forty nights; I neither ate bread nor drank water, because of all your sin which you committed in doing wickedly in the sight of the LORD, to provoke Him to anger.

¹⁹For I was afraid of the anger and hot displeasure with which the LORD was angry with you, to destroy you. But the LORD listened to me at that time also.

²⁰And the LORD was very angry with Aaron and would have destroyed him; so I prayed for Aaron also at the same time.

²¹Then I took your sin, the calf which you had made, and burned it with fire and crushed it and ground it very small, until it was as fine as dust; and I threw its dust into the brook that descended from the mountain.

²²“Also at Taberah and Massah and Kibroth Hattaavah you provoked the LORD to wrath.

²³Likewise, when the LORD sent you from Kadesh Barnea, saying, ‘Go up and possess the land which I have given you,’ then you rebelled against the commandment of the LORD your God, and you did not believe Him nor obey His voice.

²⁴You have been rebellious against the LORD from the day that I knew you.

²⁵“Thus I prostrated myself before the LORD; forty days and forty nights I kept prostrating myself, because the LORD had said He would destroy you.

²⁶Therefore I prayed to the LORD, and said: ‘O Lord GOD, do not destroy Your people and Your inheritance whom You have redeemed through Your greatness, whom You have brought out of Egypt with a mighty hand.

²⁷Remember Your servants, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob; do not look on the stubbornness of this people, or on their wickedness or their sin,

²⁸lest the land from which You brought us should say, “Because the LORD was not able to bring them to the land which He promised them, and because He hated them, He has brought them out to kill them in the wilderness.”

²⁹Yet they are Your people and Your inheritance, whom You brought out by Your mighty power and by Your outstretched arm.’

¹What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound?

²Certainly not! How shall we who died to sin live any longer in it?

³Or do you not know that as many of us as were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death?

⁴Therefore we were buried with Him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.

⁵For if we have been united together in the likeness of His death, certainly we also shall be in the likeness of His resurrection,

⁶knowing this, that our old man was crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves of sin.

⁷For he who has died has been freed from sin.

⁸Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with Him,

⁹knowing that Christ, having been raised from the dead, dies no more. Death no longer has dominion over Him.

¹⁰For the death that He died, He died to sin once for all; but the life that He lives, He lives to God.

¹¹Likewise you also, reckon yourselves to be dead indeed to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus our Lord.

¹²Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body, that you should obey it in its lusts.

¹³And do not present your members as instruments of unrighteousness to sin, but present yourselves to God as being alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness to God.

¹⁴For sin shall not have dominion over you, for you are not under law but under grace.

¹⁵What then? Shall we sin because we are not under law but under grace? Certainly not!

¹⁶Do you not know that to whom you present yourselves slaves to obey, you are that one’s slaves whom you obey, whether of sin leading to death, or of obedience leading to righteousness?

¹⁷But God be thanked that though you were slaves of sin, yet you obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine to which you were delivered.

¹⁸And having been set free from sin, you became slaves of righteousness.

¹⁹I speak in human terms because of the weakness of your flesh. For just as you presented your members as slaves of uncleanness, and of lawlessness leading to more lawlessness, so now present your members as slaves of righteousness for holiness.

²⁰For when you were slaves of sin, you were free in regard to righteousness.

²¹What fruit did you have then in the things of which you are now ashamed? For the end of those things is death.

²²But now having been set free from sin, and having become slaves of God, you have your fruit to holiness, and the end, everlasting life.

²³For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

¹The elders who are among you I exhort, I who am a fellow elder and a witness of the sufferings of Christ, and also a partaker of the glory that will be revealed:

²Shepherd the flock of God which is among you, serving as overseers, not by compulsion but willingly, not for dishonest gain but eagerly;

³nor as being lords over those entrusted to you, but being examples to the flock;

⁴and when the Chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the crown of glory that does not fade away.

⁵Likewise you younger people, submit yourselves to your elders. Yes, all of you be submissive to one another, and be clothed with humility, for “God resists the proud, But gives grace to the humble.”

⁶Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time,

⁷casting all your care upon Him, for He cares for you.

⁸Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour.

⁹Resist him, steadfast in the faith, knowing that the same sufferings are experienced by your brotherhood in the world.

¹⁰But may the God of all grace, who called us to His eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after you have suffered a while, perfect, establish, strengthen, and settle you.

¹¹To Him be the glory and the dominion forever and ever. Amen.

¹²By Silvanus, our faithful brother as I consider him, I have written to you briefly, exhorting and testifying that this is the true grace of God in which you stand.

¹³She who is in Babylon, elect together with you, greets you; and so does Mark my son.

¹⁴Greet one another with a kiss of love. Peace to you all who are in Christ Jesus. Amen.

¹Then the LORD answered Job out of the whirlwind, and said:

²“Who is this who darkens counsel By words without knowledge?

³Now prepare yourself like a man; I will question you, and you shall answer Me.

⁴“Where were you when I laid the foundations of the earth? Tell Me, if you have understanding.

⁵Who determined its measurements? Surely you know! Or who stretched the line upon it?

⁶To what were its foundations fastened? Or who laid its cornerstone,

⁷When the morning stars sang together, And all the sons of God shouted for joy?

⁸“Or who shut in the sea with doors, When it burst forth and issued from the womb;

⁹When I made the clouds its garment, And thick darkness its swaddling band;

¹⁰When I fixed My limit for it, And set bars and doors;

¹¹When I said, ‘This far you may come, but no farther, And here your proud waves must stop!’

¹²“Have you commanded the morning since your days began, And caused the dawn to know its place,

¹³That it might take hold of the ends of the earth, And the wicked be shaken out of it?

¹⁴It takes on form like clay under a seal, And stands out like a garment.

¹⁵From the wicked their light is withheld, And the upraised arm is broken.

¹⁶“Have you entered the springs of the sea? Or have you walked in search of the depths?

¹⁷Have the gates of death been revealed to you? Or have you seen the doors of the shadow of death?

¹⁸Have you comprehended the breadth of the earth? Tell Me, if you know all this.

¹⁹“Where is the way to the dwelling of light? And darkness, where is its place,

²⁰That you may take it to its territory, That you may know the paths to its home?

²¹Do you know it, because you were born then, Or because the number of your days is great?

²²“Have you entered the treasury of snow, Or have you seen the treasury of hail,

²³Which I have reserved for the time of trouble, For the day of battle and war?

²⁴By what way is light diffused, Or the east wind scattered over the earth?

²⁵“Who has divided a channel for the overflowing water, Or a path for the thunderbolt,

²⁶To cause it to rain on a land where there is no one, A wilderness in which there is no man;

²⁷To satisfy the desolate waste, And cause to spring forth the growth of tender grass?

²⁸Has the rain a father? Or who has begotten the drops of dew?

²⁹From whose womb comes the ice? And the frost of heaven, who gives it birth?

³⁰The waters harden like stone, And the surface of the deep is frozen.

³¹“Can you bind the cluster of the Pleiades, Or loose the belt of Orion?

³²Can you bring out Mazzaroth in its season? Or can you guide the Great Bear with its cubs?

³³Do you know the ordinances of the heavens? Can you set their dominion over the earth?

³⁴“Can you lift up your voice to the clouds, That an abundance of water may cover you?

³⁵Can you send out lightnings, that they may go, And say to you, ‘Here we are!’?

³⁶Who has put wisdom in the mind? Or who has given understanding to the heart?

³⁷Who can number the clouds by wisdom? Or who can pour out the bottles of heaven,

³⁸When the dust hardens in clumps, And the clods cling together?

³⁹“Can you hunt the prey for the lion, Or satisfy the appetite of the young lions,

⁴⁰When they crouch in their dens, Or lurk in their lairs to lie in wait?

⁴¹Who provides food for the raven, When its young ones cry to God, And wander about for lack of food?

¹To the Chief Musician. On an eight-stringed harp. A Psalm of David. [1] Help, LORD, for the godly man ceases! For the faithful disappear from among the sons of men.

²They speak idly everyone with his neighbor; With flattering lips and a double heart they speak.

³May the LORD cut off all flattering lips, And the tongue that speaks proud things,

⁴Who have said, “With our tongue we will prevail; Our lips are our own; Who is lord over us?”

⁵“For the oppression of the poor, for the sighing of the needy, Now I will arise,” says the LORD; “I will set him in the safety for which he yearns.”

⁶The words of the LORD are pure words, Like silver tried in a furnace of earth, Purified seven times.

⁷You shall keep them, O LORD, You shall preserve them from this generation forever.

⁸The wicked prowl on every side, When vileness is exalted among the sons of men.

¹My son, keep my words, And treasure my commands within you.

²Keep my commands and live, And my law as the apple of your eye.

³Bind them on your fingers; Write them on the tablet of your heart.

⁴Say to wisdom, “You are my sister,” And call understanding your nearest kin,

⁵That they may keep you from the immoral woman, From the seductress who flatters with her words.

⁶For at the window of my house I looked through my lattice,

⁷And saw among the simple, I perceived among the youths, A young man devoid of understanding,

⁸Passing along the street near her corner; And he took the path to her house

⁹In the twilight, in the evening, In the black and dark night.

¹⁰And there a woman met him, With the attire of a harlot, and a crafty heart.

¹¹She was loud and rebellious, Her feet would not stay at home.

¹²At times she was outside, at times in the open square, Lurking at every corner.

¹³So she caught him and kissed him; With an impudent face she said to him:

¹⁴“I have peace offerings with me; Today I have paid my vows.

¹⁵So I came out to meet you, Diligently to seek your face, And I have found you.

¹⁶I have spread my bed with tapestry, Colored coverings of Egyptian linen.

¹⁷I have perfumed my bed With myrrh, aloes, and cinnamon.

¹⁸Come, let us take our fill of love until morning; Let us delight ourselves with love.

¹⁹For my husband is not at home; He has gone on a long journey;

²⁰He has taken a bag of money with him, And will come home on the appointed day.”

²¹With her enticing speech she caused him to yield, With her flattering lips she seduced him.

²²Immediately he went after her, as an ox goes to the slaughter, Or as a fool to the correction of the stocks,

²³Till an arrow struck his liver. As a bird hastens to the snare, He did not know it would cost his life.

²⁴Now therefore, listen to me, my children; Pay attention to the words of my mouth:

²⁵Do not let your heart turn aside to her ways, Do not stray into her paths;

²⁶For she has cast down many wounded, And all who were slain by her were strong men.

²⁷Her house is the way to hell, Descending to the chambers of death.

¹Then all Israel came together to David at Hebron, saying, “Indeed we are your bone and your flesh.

²Also, in time past, even when Saul was king, you were the one who led Israel out and brought them in; and the LORD your God said to you, ‘You shall shepherd My people Israel, and be ruler over My people Israel.’ ”

³Therefore all the elders of Israel came to the king at Hebron, and David made a covenant with them at Hebron before the LORD. And they anointed David king over Israel, according to the word of the LORD by Samuel.

⁴And David and all Israel went to Jerusalem, which is Jebus, where the Jebusites were, the inhabitants of the land.

⁵But the inhabitants of Jebus said to David, “You shall not come in here!” Nevertheless David took the stronghold of Zion (that is, the City of David).

⁶Now David said, “Whoever attacks the Jebusites first shall be chief and captain.” And Joab the son of Zeruiah went up first, and became chief.

⁷Then David dwelt in the stronghold; therefore they called it the City of David.

⁸And he built the city around it, from the Millo to the surrounding area. Joab repaired the rest of the city.

⁹So David went on and became great, and the LORD of hosts was with him.

¹⁰Now these were the heads of the mighty men whom David had, who strengthened themselves with him in his kingdom, with all Israel, to make him king, according to the word of the LORD concerning Israel.

¹¹And this is the number of the mighty men whom David had: Jashobeam the son of a Hachmonite, chief of the captains; he had lifted up his spear against three hundred, killed by him at one time.

¹²After him was Eleazar the son of Dodo, the Ahohite, who was one of the three mighty men.

¹³He was with David at Pasdammim. Now there the Philistines were gathered for battle, and there was a piece of ground full of barley. So the people fled from the Philistines.

¹⁴But they stationed themselves in the middle of that field, defended it, and killed the Philistines. So the LORD brought about a great victory.

¹⁵Now three of the thirty chief men went down to the rock to David, into the cave of Adullam; and the army of the Philistines encamped in the Valley of Rephaim.

¹⁶David was then in the stronghold, and the garrison of the Philistines was then in Bethlehem.

¹⁷And David said with longing, “Oh, that someone would give me a drink of water from the well of Bethlehem, which is by the gate!”

¹⁸So the three broke through the camp of the Philistines, drew water from the well of Bethlehem that was by the gate, and took it and brought it to David. Nevertheless David would not drink it, but poured it out to the LORD.

¹⁹And he said, “Far be it from me, O my God, that I should do this! Shall I drink the blood of these men who have put their lives in jeopardy? For at the risk of their lives they brought it.” Therefore he would not drink it. These things were done by the three mighty men.

²⁰Abishai the brother of Joab was chief of another three. He had lifted up his spear against three hundred men, killed them, and won a name among these three.

²¹Of the three he was more honored than the other two men. Therefore he became their captain. However he did not attain to the first three.

²²Benaiah was the son of Jehoiada, the son of a valiant man from Kabzeel, who had done many deeds. He had killed two lion-like heroes of Moab. He also had gone down and killed a lion in the midst of a pit on a snowy day.

²³And he killed an Egyptian, a man of great height, five cubits tall. In the Egyptian’s hand there was a spear like a weaver’s beam; and he went down to him with a staff, wrested the spear out of the Egyptian’s hand, and killed him with his own spear.

²⁴These things Benaiah the son of Jehoiada did, and won a name among three mighty men.

²⁵Indeed he was more honored than the thirty, but he did not attain to the first three. And David appointed him over his guard.

²⁶Also the mighty warriors were Asahel the brother of Joab, Elhanan the son of Dodo of Bethlehem,

²⁷Shammoth the Harorite, Helez the Pelonite,

²⁸Ira the son of Ikkesh the Tekoite, Abiezer the Anathothite,

²⁹Sibbechai the Hushathite, Ilai the Ahohite,

³⁰Maharai the Netophathite, Heled the son of Baanah the Netophathite,

³¹Ithai the son of Ribai of Gibeah, of the sons of Benjamin, Benaiah the Pirathonite,

³²Hurai of the brooks of Gaash, Abiel the Arbathite,

³³Azmaveth the Baharumite, Eliahba the Shaalbonite,

³⁴the sons of Hashem the Gizonite, Jonathan the son of Shageh the Hararite,

³⁵Ahiam the son of Sacar the Hararite, Eliphal the son of Ur,

³⁶Hepher the Mecherathite, Ahijah the Pelonite,

³⁷Hezro the Carmelite, Naarai the son of Ezbai,

³⁸Joel the brother of Nathan, Mibhar the son of Hagri,

³⁹Zelek the Ammonite, Naharai the Berothite (the armorbearer of Joab the son of Zeruiah),

⁴⁰Ira the Ithrite, Gareb the Ithrite,

⁴¹Uriah the Hittite, Zabad the son of Ahlai,

⁴²Adina the son of Shiza the Reubenite (a chief of the Reubenites) and thirty with him,

⁴³Hanan the son of Maachah, Joshaphat the Mithnite,

⁴⁴Uzzia the Ashterathite, Shama and Jeiel the sons of Hotham the Aroerite,

⁴⁵Jediael the son of Shimri, and Joha his brother, the Tizite,

⁴⁶Eliel the Mahavite, Jeribai and Joshaviah the sons of Elnaam, Ithmah the Moabite,

⁴⁷Eliel, Obed, and Jaasiel the Mezobaite.

¹“And you, son of man, prophesy against Gog, and say, ‘Thus says the Lord GOD: “Behold, I am against you, O Gog, the prince of Rosh, Meshech, and Tubal;

²and I will turn you around and lead you on, bringing you up from the far north, and bring you against the mountains of Israel.

³Then I will knock the bow out of your left hand, and cause the arrows to fall out of your right hand.

⁴You shall fall upon the mountains of Israel, you and all your troops and the peoples who are with you; I will give you to birds of prey of every sort and to the beasts of the field to be devoured.

⁵You shall fall on the open field; for I have spoken,” says the Lord GOD.

⁶“And I will send fire on Magog and on those who live in security in the coastlands. Then they shall know that I am the LORD.

⁷So I will make My holy name known in the midst of My people Israel, and I will not let them profane My holy name anymore. Then the nations shall know that I am the LORD, the Holy One in Israel.

⁸Surely it is coming, and it shall be done,” says the Lord GOD. “This is the day of which I have spoken.

⁹“Then those who dwell in the cities of Israel will go out and set on fire and burn the weapons, both the shields and bucklers, the bows and arrows, the javelins and spears; and they will make fires with them for seven years.

¹⁰They will not take wood from the field nor cut down any from the forests, because they will make fires with the weapons; and they will plunder those who plundered them, and pillage those who pillaged them,” says the Lord GOD.

¹¹“It will come to pass in that day that I will give Gog a burial place there in Israel, the valley of those who pass by east of the sea; and it will obstruct travelers, because there they will bury Gog and all his multitude. Therefore they will call it the Valley of Hamon Gog.

¹²For seven months the house of Israel will be burying them, in order to cleanse the land.

¹³Indeed all the people of the land will be burying, and they will gain renown for it on the day that I am glorified,” says the Lord GOD.

¹⁴“They will set apart men regularly employed, with the help of a search party, to pass through the land and bury those bodies remaining on the ground, in order to cleanse it. At the end of seven months they will make a search.

¹⁵The search party will pass through the land; and when anyone sees a man’s bone, he shall set up a marker by it, till the buriers have buried it in the Valley of Hamon Gog.

¹⁶The name of the city will also be Hamonah. Thus they shall cleanse the land.” ’

¹⁷“And as for you, son of man, thus says the Lord GOD, ‘Speak to every sort of bird and to every beast of the field: “Assemble yourselves and come; Gather together from all sides to My sacrificial meal Which I am sacrificing for you, A great sacrificial meal on the mountains of Israel, That you may eat flesh and drink blood.

¹⁸You shall eat the flesh of the mighty, Drink the blood of the princes of the earth, Of rams and lambs, Of goats and bulls, All of them fatlings of Bashan.

¹⁹You shall eat fat till you are full, And drink blood till you are drunk, At My sacrificial meal Which I am sacrificing for you.

²⁰You shall be filled at My table With horses and riders, With mighty men And with all the men of war,” says the Lord GOD.

²¹“I will set My glory among the nations; all the nations shall see My judgment which I have executed, and My hand which I have laid on them.

²²So the house of Israel shall know that I am the LORD their God from that day forward.

²³The Gentiles shall know that the house of Israel went into captivity for their iniquity; because they were unfaithful to Me, therefore I hid My face from them. I gave them into the hand of their enemies, and they all fell by the sword.

²⁴According to their uncleanness and according to their transgressions I have dealt with them, and hidden My face from them.” ’

²⁵“Therefore thus says the Lord GOD: ‘Now I will bring back the captives of Jacob, and have mercy on the whole house of Israel; and I will be jealous for My holy name—

²⁶after they have borne their shame, and all their unfaithfulness in which they were unfaithful to Me, when they dwelt safely in their own land and no one made them afraid.

²⁷When I have brought them back from the peoples and gathered them out of their enemies’ lands, and I am hallowed in them in the sight of many nations,

²⁸then they shall know that I am the LORD their God, who sent them into captivity among the nations, but also brought them back to their land, and left none of them captive any longer.

²⁹And I will not hide My face from them anymore; for I shall have poured out My Spirit on the house of Israel,’ says the Lord GOD.”

¹“Brethren and fathers, hear my defense before you now.”

²And when they heard that he spoke to them in the Hebrew language, they kept all the more silent. Then he said:

³“I am indeed a Jew, born in Tarsus of Cilicia, but brought up in this city at the feet of Gamaliel, taught according to the strictness of our fathers’ law, and was zealous toward God as you all are today.

⁴I persecuted this Way to the death, binding and delivering into prisons both men and women,

⁵as also the high priest bears me witness, and all the council of the elders, from whom I also received letters to the brethren, and went to Damascus to bring in chains even those who were there to Jerusalem to be punished.

⁶“Now it happened, as I journeyed and came near Damascus at about noon, suddenly a great light from heaven shone around me.

⁷And I fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to me, ‘Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me?’

⁸So I answered, ‘Who are You, Lord?’ And He said to me, ‘I am Jesus of Nazareth, whom you are persecuting.’

⁹“And those who were with me indeed saw the light and were afraid, but they did not hear the voice of Him who spoke to me.

¹⁰So I said, ‘What shall I do, Lord?’ And the Lord said to me, ‘Arise and go into Damascus, and there you will be told all things which are appointed for you to do.’

¹¹And since I could not see for the glory of that light, being led by the hand of those who were with me, I came into Damascus.

¹²“Then a certain Ananias, a devout man according to the law, having a good testimony with all the Jews who dwelt there,

¹³came to me; and he stood and said to me, ‘Brother Saul, receive your sight.’ And at that same hour I looked up at him.

¹⁴Then he said, ‘The God of our fathers has chosen you that you should know His will, and see the Just One, and hear the voice of His mouth.

¹⁵For you will be His witness to all men of what you have seen and heard.

¹⁶And now why are you waiting? Arise and be baptized, and wash away your sins, calling on the name of the Lord.’

¹⁷“Now it happened, when I returned to Jerusalem and was praying in the temple, that I was in a trance

¹⁸and saw Him saying to me, ‘Make haste and get out of Jerusalem quickly, for they will not receive your testimony concerning Me.’

¹⁹So I said, ‘Lord, they know that in every synagogue I imprisoned and beat those who believe on You.

²⁰And when the blood of Your martyr Stephen was shed, I also was standing by consenting to his death, and guarding the clothes of those who were killing him.’

²¹Then He said to me, ‘Depart, for I will send you far from here to the Gentiles.’ ”

²²And they listened to him until this word, and then they raised their voices and said, “Away with such a fellow from the earth, for he is not fit to live!”

²³Then, as they cried out and tore off their clothes and threw dust into the air,

²⁴the commander ordered him to be brought into the barracks, and said that he should be examined under scourging, so that he might know why they shouted so against him.

²⁵And as they bound him with thongs, Paul said to the centurion who stood by, “Is it lawful for you to scourge a man who is a Roman, and uncondemned?”

²⁶When the centurion heard that, he went and told the commander, saying, “Take care what you do, for this man is a Roman.”

²⁷Then the commander came and said to him, “Tell me, are you a Roman?” He said, “Yes.”

²⁸The commander answered, “With a large sum I obtained this citizenship.” And Paul said, “But I was born a citizen.”

²⁹Then immediately those who were about to examine him withdrew from him; and the commander was also afraid after he found out that he was a Roman, and because he had bound him.

³⁰The next day, because he wanted to know for certain why he was accused by the Jews, he released him from his bonds, and commanded the chief priests and all their council to appear, and brought Paul down and set him before them.