Professor Horner’s Reading Plan

¹“Truly, truly, I say to you, he who does not enter the sheepfold by the door but climbs in by another way, that man is a thief and a robber.

²But he who enters by the door is the shepherd of the sheep.

³To him the gatekeeper opens. The sheep hear his voice, and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out.

⁴When he has brought out all his own, he goes before them, and the sheep follow him, for they know his voice.

⁵ A stranger they will not follow, but they will flee from him, for they do not know the voice of strangers.”

⁶This figure of speech Jesus used with them, but they did not understand what he was saying to them.

⁷So Jesus again said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep.

⁸All who came before me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not listen to them.

⁹I am the door. If anyone enters by me, he will be saved and will go in and out and find pasture.

¹⁰The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.

¹¹ I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.

¹²He who is a hired hand and not a shepherd, who does not own the sheep, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and flees, and the wolf snatches them and scatters them.

¹³He flees because he is a hired hand and cares nothing for the sheep.

¹⁴ I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me,

¹⁵ just as the Father knows me and I know the Father; and I lay down my life for the sheep.

¹⁶And I have other sheep that are not of this fold. I must bring them also, and they will listen to my voice. So there will be one flock, one shepherd.

¹⁷ For this reason the Father loves me, because I lay down my life that I may take it up again.

¹⁸ No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up again. This charge I have received from my Father.”

¹⁹There was again a division among the Jews because of these words.

²⁰Many of them said, “He has a demon, and is insane; why listen to him?”

²¹Others said, “These are not the words of one who is oppressed by a demon. Can a demon open the eyes of the blind?”

²²At that time the Feast of Dedication took place at Jerusalem. It was winter,

²³and Jesus was walking in the temple, in the colonnade of Solomon.

²⁴So the Jews gathered around him and said to him, “How long will you keep us in suspense? If you are the Christ, tell us plainly.”

²⁵Jesus answered them, “I told you, and you do not believe. The works that I do in my Father's name bear witness about me,

²⁶but you do not believe because you are not among my sheep.

²⁷ My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me.

²⁸ I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand.

²⁹My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father's hand.

³⁰ I and the Father are one.”

³¹The Jews picked up stones again to stone him.

³²Jesus answered them, “I have shown you many good works from the Father; for which of them are you going to stone me?”

³³The Jews answered him, “It is not for a good work that we are going to stone you but for blasphemy, because you, being a man, make yourself God.”

³⁴Jesus answered them, “Is it not written in your Law, ‘I said, you are gods’?

³⁵If he called them gods to whom the word of God came — and Scripture cannot be broken —

³⁶do you say of him whom the Father consecrated and sent into the world, ‘You are blaspheming,’ because I said, ‘I am the Son of God’?

³⁷ If I am not doing the works of my Father, then do not believe me;

³⁸but if I do them, even though you do not believe me, believe the works, that you may know and understand that the Father is in me and I am in the Father.”

³⁹Again they sought to arrest him, but he escaped from their hands.

⁴⁰He went away again across the Jordan to the place where John had been baptizing at first, and there he remained.

⁴¹And many came to him. And they said, “John did no sign, but everything that John said about this man was true.”

⁴²And many believed in him there.

¹“You are the sons of the LORD your God. You shall not cut yourselves or make any baldness on your foreheads for the dead.

²For you are a people holy to the LORD your God, and the LORD has chosen you to be a people for his treasured possession, out of all the peoples who are on the face of the earth.

³“You shall not eat any abomination.

⁴These are the animals you may eat: the ox, the sheep, the goat,

⁵the deer, the gazelle, the roebuck, the wild goat, the ibex, the antelope, and the mountain sheep.

⁶Every animal that parts the hoof and has the hoof cloven in two and chews the cud, among the animals, you may eat.

⁷Yet of those that chew the cud or have the hoof cloven you shall not eat these: the camel, the hare, and the rock badger, because they chew the cud but do not part the hoof, are unclean for you.

⁸And the pig, because it parts the hoof but does not chew the cud, is unclean for you. Their flesh you shall not eat, and their carcasses you shall not touch.

⁹“Of all that are in the waters you may eat these: whatever has fins and scales you may eat.

¹⁰And whatever does not have fins and scales you shall not eat; it is unclean for you.

¹¹“You may eat all clean birds.

¹²But these are the ones that you shall not eat: the eagle, the bearded vulture, the black vulture,

¹³the kite, the falcon of any kind;

¹⁴every raven of any kind;

¹⁵the ostrich, the nighthawk, the sea gull, the hawk of any kind;

¹⁶the little owl and the short-eared owl, the barn owl

¹⁷and the tawny owl, the carrion vulture and the cormorant,

¹⁸the stork, the heron of any kind; the hoopoe and the bat.

¹⁹And all winged insects are unclean for you; they shall not be eaten.

²⁰All clean winged things you may eat.

²¹“You shall not eat anything that has died naturally. You may give it to the sojourner who is within your towns, that he may eat it, or you may sell it to a foreigner. For you are a people holy to the LORD your God. “You shall not boil a young goat in its mother's milk.

²²“You shall tithe all the yield of your seed that comes from the field year by year.

²³And before the LORD your God, in the place that he will choose, to make his name dwell there, you shall eat the tithe of your grain, of your wine, and of your oil, and the firstborn of your herd and flock, that you may learn to fear the LORD your God always.

²⁴And if the way is too long for you, so that you are not able to carry the tithe, when the LORD your God blesses you, because the place is too far from you, which the LORD your God chooses, to set his name there,

²⁵then you shall turn it into money and bind up the money in your hand and go to the place that the LORD your God chooses

²⁶and spend the money for whatever you desire — oxen or sheep or wine or strong drink, whatever your appetite craves. And you shall eat there before the LORD your God and rejoice, you and your household.

²⁷And you shall not neglect the Levite who is within your towns, for he has no portion or inheritance with you.

²⁸“At the end of every three years you shall bring out all the tithe of your produce in the same year and lay it up within your towns.

²⁹And the Levite, because he has no portion or inheritance with you, and the sojourner, the fatherless, and the widow, who are within your towns, shall come and eat and be filled, that the LORD your God may bless you in all the work of your hands that you do.

¹I ask, then, has God rejected his people? By no means! For I myself am an Israelite, a descendant of Abraham, a member of the tribe of Benjamin.

²God has not rejected his people whom he foreknew. Do you not know what the Scripture says of Elijah, how he appeals to God against Israel?

³“Lord, they have killed your prophets, they have demolished your altars, and I alone am left, and they seek my life.”

⁴But what is God's reply to him? “I have kept for myself seven thousand men who have not bowed the knee to Baal.”

⁵So too at the present time there is a remnant, chosen by grace.

⁶But if it is by grace, it is no longer on the basis of works; otherwise grace would no longer be grace.

⁷What then? Israel failed to obtain what it was seeking. The elect obtained it, but the rest were hardened,

⁸as it is written, “God gave them a spirit of stupor, eyes that would not see and ears that would not hear, down to this very day.”

⁹And David says, “Let their table become a snare and a trap, a stumbling block and a retribution for them;

¹⁰let their eyes be darkened so that they cannot see, and bend their backs forever.”

¹¹So I ask, did they stumble in order that they might fall? By no means! Rather, through their trespass salvation has come to the Gentiles, so as to make Israel jealous.

¹²Now if their trespass means riches for the world, and if their failure means riches for the Gentiles, how much more will their full inclusion mean!

¹³Now I am speaking to you Gentiles. Inasmuch then as I am an apostle to the Gentiles, I magnify my ministry

¹⁴in order somehow to make my fellow Jews jealous, and thus save some of them.

¹⁵For if their rejection means the reconciliation of the world, what will their acceptance mean but life from the dead?

¹⁶If the dough offered as firstfruits is holy, so is the whole lump, and if the root is holy, so are the branches.

¹⁷But if some of the branches were broken off, and you, although a wild olive shoot, were grafted in among the others and now share in the nourishing root of the olive tree,

¹⁸do not be arrogant toward the branches. If you are, remember it is not you who support the root, but the root that supports you.

¹⁹Then you will say, “Branches were broken off so that I might be grafted in.”

²⁰That is true. They were broken off because of their unbelief, but you stand fast through faith. So do not become proud, but fear.

²¹For if God did not spare the natural branches, neither will he spare you.

²²Note then the kindness and the severity of God: severity toward those who have fallen, but God's kindness to you, provided you continue in his kindness. Otherwise you too will be cut off.

²³And even they, if they do not continue in their unbelief, will be grafted in, for God has the power to graft them in again.

²⁴For if you were cut from what is by nature a wild olive tree, and grafted, contrary to nature, into a cultivated olive tree, how much more will these, the natural branches, be grafted back into their own olive tree.

²⁵Lest you be wise in your own sight, I do not want you to be unaware of this mystery, brothers: a partial hardening has come upon Israel, until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in.

²⁶And in this way all Israel will be saved, as it is written, “The Deliverer will come from Zion, he will banish ungodliness from Jacob”;

²⁷“and this will be my covenant with them when I take away their sins.”

²⁸As regards the gospel, they are enemies for your sake. But as regards election, they are beloved for the sake of their forefathers.

²⁹For the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable.

³⁰For just as you were at one time disobedient to God but now have received mercy because of their disobedience,

³¹so they too have now been disobedient in order that by the mercy shown to you they also may now receive mercy.

³²For God has consigned all to disobedience, that he may have mercy on all.

³³Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments and how inscrutable his ways!

³⁴“For who has known the mind of the Lord, or who has been his counselor?”

³⁵“Or who has given a gift to him that he might be repaid?”

³⁶For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be glory forever. Amen.

¹My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.

²He is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world.

³And by this we know that we have come to know him, if we keep his commandments.

⁴Whoever says “I know him” but does not keep his commandments is a liar, and the truth is not in him,

⁵but whoever keeps his word, in him truly the love of God is perfected. By this we may know that we are in him:

⁶whoever says he abides in him ought to walk in the same way in which he walked.

⁷Beloved, I am writing you no new commandment, but an old commandment that you had from the beginning. The old commandment is the word that you have heard.

⁸At the same time, it is a new commandment that I am writing to you, which is true in him and in you, because the darkness is passing away and the true light is already shining.

⁹Whoever says he is in the light and hates his brother is still in darkness.

¹⁰Whoever loves his brother abides in the light, and in him there is no cause for stumbling.

¹¹But whoever hates his brother is in the darkness and walks in the darkness, and does not know where he is going, because the darkness has blinded his eyes.

¹²I am writing to you, little children, because your sins are forgiven for his name's sake.

¹³I am writing to you, fathers, because you know him who is from the beginning. I am writing to you, young men, because you have overcome the evil one. I write to you, children, because you know the Father.

¹⁴I write to you, fathers, because you know him who is from the beginning. I write to you, young men, because you are strong, and the word of God abides in you, and you have overcome the evil one.

¹⁵Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.

¹⁶For all that is in the world — the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride of life — is not from the Father but is from the world.

¹⁷And the world is passing away along with its desires, but whoever does the will of God abides forever.

¹⁸Children, it is the last hour, and as you have heard that antichrist is coming, so now many antichrists have come. Therefore we know that it is the last hour.

¹⁹They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would have continued with us. But they went out, that it might become plain that they all are not of us.

²⁰But you have been anointed by the Holy One, and you all have knowledge.

²¹I write to you, not because you do not know the truth, but because you know it, and because no lie is of the truth.

²²Who is the liar but he who denies that Jesus is the Christ? This is the antichrist, he who denies the Father and the Son.

²³No one who denies the Son has the Father. Whoever confesses the Son has the Father also.

²⁴Let what you heard from the beginning abide in you. If what you heard from the beginning abides in you, then you too will abide in the Son and in the Father.

²⁵And this is the promise that he made to us — eternal life.

²⁶I write these things to you about those who are trying to deceive you.

²⁷But the anointing that you received from him abides in you, and you have no need that anyone should teach you. But as his anointing teaches you about everything, and is true, and is no lie — just as it has taught you, abide in him.

²⁸And now, little children, abide in him, so that when he appears we may have confidence and not shrink from him in shame at his coming.

²⁹If you know that he is righteous, you may be sure that everyone who practices righteousness has been born of him.

¹The words of the Preacher, the son of David, king in Jerusalem.

²Vanity of vanities, says the Preacher, vanity of vanities! All is vanity.

³What does man gain by all the toil at which he toils under the sun?

⁴A generation goes, and a generation comes, but the earth remains forever.

⁵The sun rises, and the sun goes down, and hastens to the place where it rises.

⁶The wind blows to the south and goes around to the north; around and around goes the wind, and on its circuits the wind returns.

⁷All streams run to the sea, but the sea is not full; to the place where the streams flow, there they flow again.

⁸All things are full of weariness; a man cannot utter it; the eye is not satisfied with seeing, nor the ear filled with hearing.

⁹What has been is what will be, and what has been done is what will be done, and there is nothing new under the sun.

¹⁰Is there a thing of which it is said, “See, this is new”? It has been already in the ages before us.

¹¹There is no remembrance of former things, nor will there be any remembrance of later things yet to be among those who come after.

¹²I the Preacher have been king over Israel in Jerusalem.

¹³And I applied my heart to seek and to search out by wisdom all that is done under heaven. It is an unhappy business that God has given to the children of man to be busy with.

¹⁴I have seen everything that is done under the sun, and behold, all is vanity and a striving after wind.

¹⁵What is crooked cannot be made straight, and what is lacking cannot be counted.

¹⁶I said in my heart, “I have acquired great wisdom, surpassing all who were over Jerusalem before me, and my heart has had great experience of wisdom and knowledge.”

¹⁷And I applied my heart to know wisdom and to know madness and folly. I perceived that this also is but a striving after wind.

¹⁸For in much wisdom is much vexation, and he who increases knowledge increases sorrow.

¹Hear a just cause, O LORD; attend to my cry! Give ear to my prayer from lips free of deceit!

²From your presence let my vindication come! Let your eyes behold the right!

³You have tried my heart, you have visited me by night, you have tested me, and you will find nothing; I have purposed that my mouth will not transgress.

⁴With regard to the works of man, by the word of your lips I have avoided the ways of the violent.

⁵My steps have held fast to your paths; my feet have not slipped.

⁶I call upon you, for you will answer me, O God; incline your ear to me; hear my words.

⁷Wondrously show your steadfast love, O Savior of those who seek refuge from their adversaries at your right hand.

⁸Keep me as the apple of your eye; hide me in the shadow of your wings,

⁹from the wicked who do me violence, my deadly enemies who surround me.

¹⁰They close their hearts to pity; with their mouths they speak arrogantly.

¹¹They have now surrounded our steps; they set their eyes to cast us to the ground.

¹²He is like a lion eager to tear, as a young lion lurking in ambush.

¹³Arise, O LORD! Confront him, subdue him! Deliver my soul from the wicked by your sword,

¹⁴from men by your hand, O LORD, from men of the world whose portion is in this life. You fill their womb with treasure; they are satisfied with children, and they leave their abundance to their infants.

¹⁵As for me, I shall behold your face in righteousness; when I awake, I shall be satisfied with your likeness.

¹Whoever loves discipline loves knowledge, but he who hates reproof is stupid.

²A good man obtains favor from the LORD, but a man of evil devices he condemns.

³No one is established by wickedness, but the root of the righteous will never be moved.

⁴An excellent wife is the crown of her husband, but she who brings shame is like rottenness in his bones.

⁵The thoughts of the righteous are just; the counsels of the wicked are deceitful.

⁶The words of the wicked lie in wait for blood, but the mouth of the upright delivers them.

⁷The wicked are overthrown and are no more, but the house of the righteous will stand.

⁸A man is commended according to his good sense, but one of twisted mind is despised.

⁹Better to be lowly and have a servant than to play the great man and lack bread.

¹⁰Whoever is righteous has regard for the life of his beast, but the mercy of the wicked is cruel.

¹¹Whoever works his land will have plenty of bread, but he who follows worthless pursuits lacks sense.

¹²Whoever is wicked covets the spoil of evildoers, but the root of the righteous bears fruit.

¹³An evil man is ensnared by the transgression of his lips, but the righteous escapes from trouble.

¹⁴From the fruit of his mouth a man is satisfied with good, and the work of a man's hand comes back to him.

¹⁵The way of a fool is right in his own eyes, but a wise man listens to advice.

¹⁶The vexation of a fool is known at once, but the prudent ignores an insult.

¹⁷Whoever speaks the truth gives honest evidence, but a false witness utters deceit.

¹⁸There is one whose rash words are like sword thrusts, but the tongue of the wise brings healing.

¹⁹Truthful lips endure forever, but a lying tongue is but for a moment.

²⁰Deceit is in the heart of those who devise evil, but those who plan peace have joy.

²¹No ill befalls the righteous, but the wicked are filled with trouble.

²²Lying lips are an abomination to the LORD, but those who act faithfully are his delight.

²³A prudent man conceals knowledge, but the heart of fools proclaims folly.

²⁴The hand of the diligent will rule, while the slothful will be put to forced labor.

²⁵Anxiety in a man's heart weighs him down, but a good word makes him glad.

²⁶One who is righteous is a guide to his neighbor, but the way of the wicked leads them astray.

²⁷Whoever is slothful will not roast his game, but the diligent man will get precious wealth.

²⁸In the path of righteousness is life, and in its pathway there is no death.

¹And they brought in the ark of God and set it inside the tent that David had pitched for it, and they offered burnt offerings and peace offerings before God.

²And when David had finished offering the burnt offerings and the peace offerings, he blessed the people in the name of the LORD

³and distributed to all Israel, both men and women, to each a loaf of bread, a portion of meat, and a cake of raisins.

⁴Then he appointed some of the Levites as ministers before the ark of the LORD, to invoke, to thank, and to praise the LORD, the God of Israel.

⁵Asaph was the chief, and second to him were Zechariah, Jeiel, Shemiramoth, Jehiel, Mattithiah, Eliab, Benaiah, Obed-edom, and Jeiel, who were to play harps and lyres; Asaph was to sound the cymbals,

⁶and Benaiah and Jahaziel the priests were to blow trumpets regularly before the ark of the covenant of God.

⁷Then on that day David first appointed that thanksgiving be sung to the LORD by Asaph and his brothers.

⁸Oh give thanks to the LORD; call upon his name; make known his deeds among the peoples!

⁹Sing to him, sing praises to him; tell of all his wondrous works!

¹⁰Glory in his holy name; let the hearts of those who seek the LORD rejoice!

¹¹Seek the LORD and his strength; seek his presence continually!

¹²Remember the wondrous works that he has done, his miracles and the judgments he uttered,

¹³O offspring of Israel his servant, children of Jacob, his chosen ones!

¹⁴He is the LORD our God; his judgments are in all the earth.

¹⁵Remember his covenant forever, the word that he commanded, for a thousand generations,

¹⁶the covenant that he made with Abraham, his sworn promise to Isaac,

¹⁷which he confirmed to Jacob as a statute, to Israel as an everlasting covenant,

¹⁸saying, “To you I will give the land of Canaan, as your portion for an inheritance.”

¹⁹When you were few in number, of little account, and sojourners in it,

²⁰wandering from nation to nation, from one kingdom to another people,

²¹he allowed no one to oppress them; he rebuked kings on their account,

²²saying, “Touch not my anointed ones, do my prophets no harm!”

²³Sing to the LORD, all the earth! Tell of his salvation from day to day.

²⁴Declare his glory among the nations, his marvelous works among all the peoples!

²⁵For great is the LORD, and greatly to be praised, and he is to be feared above all gods.

²⁶For all the gods of the peoples are worthless idols, but the LORD made the heavens.

²⁷Splendor and majesty are before him; strength and joy are in his place.

²⁸Ascribe to the LORD, O families of the peoples, ascribe to the LORD glory and strength!

²⁹Ascribe to the LORD the glory due his name; bring an offering and come before him! Worship the LORD in the splendor of holiness;

³⁰tremble before him, all the earth; yes, the world is established; it shall never be moved.

³¹Let the heavens be glad, and let the earth rejoice, and let them say among the nations, “The LORD reigns!”

³²Let the sea roar, and all that fills it; let the field exult, and everything in it!

³³Then shall the trees of the forest sing for joy before the LORD, for he comes to judge the earth.

³⁴Oh give thanks to the LORD, for he is good; for his steadfast love endures forever!

³⁵Say also: “Save us, O God of our salvation, and gather and deliver us from among the nations, that we may give thanks to your holy name and glory in your praise.

³⁶Blessed be the LORD, the God of Israel, from everlasting to everlasting!” Then all the people said, “Amen!” and praised the LORD.

³⁷So David left Asaph and his brothers there before the ark of the covenant of the LORD to minister regularly before the ark as each day required,

³⁸and also Obed-edom and his sixty-eight brothers, while Obed-edom, the son of Jeduthun, and Hosah were to be gatekeepers.

³⁹And he left Zadok the priest and his brothers the priests before the tabernacle of the LORD in the high place that was at Gibeon

⁴⁰to offer burnt offerings to the LORD on the altar of burnt offering regularly morning and evening, to do all that is written in the Law of the LORD that he commanded Israel.

⁴¹With them were Heman and Jeduthun and the rest of those chosen and expressly named to give thanks to the LORD, for his steadfast love endures forever.

⁴²Heman and Jeduthun had trumpets and cymbals for the music and instruments for sacred song. The sons of Jeduthun were appointed to the gate.

⁴³Then all the people departed each to his house, and David went home to bless his household.

¹Then he brought me back to the outer gate of the sanctuary, which faces east. And it was shut.

²And the LORD said to me, “This gate shall remain shut; it shall not be opened, and no one shall enter by it, for the LORD, the God of Israel, has entered by it. Therefore it shall remain shut.

³Only the prince may sit in it to eat bread before the LORD. He shall enter by way of the vestibule of the gate, and shall go out by the same way.”

⁴Then he brought me by way of the north gate to the front of the temple, and I looked, and behold, the glory of the LORD filled the temple of the LORD. And I fell on my face.

⁵And the LORD said to me, “Son of man, mark well, see with your eyes, and hear with your ears all that I shall tell you concerning all the statutes of the temple of the LORD and all its laws. And mark well the entrance to the temple and all the exits from the sanctuary.

⁶And say to the rebellious house, to the house of Israel, Thus says the Lord GOD: O house of Israel, enough of all your abominations,

⁷in admitting foreigners, uncircumcised in heart and flesh, to be in my sanctuary, profaning my temple, when you offer to me my food, the fat and the blood. You have broken my covenant, in addition to all your abominations.

⁸And you have not kept charge of my holy things, but you have set others to keep my charge for you in my sanctuary.

⁹“Thus says the Lord GOD: No foreigner, uncircumcised in heart and flesh, of all the foreigners who are among the people of Israel, shall enter my sanctuary.

¹⁰But the Levites who went far from me, going astray from me after their idols when Israel went astray, shall bear their punishment.

¹¹They shall be ministers in my sanctuary, having oversight at the gates of the temple and ministering in the temple. They shall slaughter the burnt offering and the sacrifice for the people, and they shall stand before the people, to minister to them.

¹²Because they ministered to them before their idols and became a stumbling block of iniquity to the house of Israel, therefore I have sworn concerning them, declares the Lord GOD, and they shall bear their punishment.

¹³They shall not come near to me, to serve me as priest, nor come near any of my holy things and the things that are most holy, but they shall bear their shame and the abominations that they have committed.

¹⁴Yet I will appoint them to keep charge of the temple, to do all its service and all that is to be done in it.

¹⁵“But the Levitical priests, the sons of Zadok, who kept the charge of my sanctuary when the people of Israel went astray from me, shall come near to me to minister to me. And they shall stand before me to offer me the fat and the blood, declares the Lord GOD.

¹⁶They shall enter my sanctuary, and they shall approach my table, to minister to me, and they shall keep my charge.

¹⁷When they enter the gates of the inner court, they shall wear linen garments. They shall have nothing of wool on them, while they minister at the gates of the inner court, and within.

¹⁸They shall have linen turbans on their heads, and linen undergarments around their waists. They shall not bind themselves with anything that causes sweat.

¹⁹And when they go out into the outer court to the people, they shall put off the garments in which they have been ministering and lay them in the holy chambers. And they shall put on other garments, lest they transmit holiness to the people with their garments.

²⁰They shall not shave their heads or let their locks grow long; they shall surely trim the hair of their heads.

²¹No priest shall drink wine when he enters the inner court.

²²They shall not marry a widow or a divorced woman, but only virgins of the offspring of the house of Israel, or a widow who is the widow of a priest.

²³They shall teach my people the difference between the holy and the common, and show them how to distinguish between the unclean and the clean.

²⁴In a dispute, they shall act as judges, and they shall judge it according to my judgments. They shall keep my laws and my statutes in all my appointed feasts, and they shall keep my Sabbaths holy.

²⁵They shall not defile themselves by going near to a dead person. However, for father or mother, for son or daughter, for brother or unmarried sister they may defile themselves.

²⁶After he has become clean, they shall count seven days for him.

²⁷And on the day that he goes into the Holy Place, into the inner court, to minister in the Holy Place, he shall offer his sin offering, declares the Lord GOD.

²⁸“This shall be their inheritance: I am their inheritance: and you shall give them no possession in Israel; I am their possession.

²⁹They shall eat the grain offering, the sin offering, and the guilt offering, and every devoted thing in Israel shall be theirs.

³⁰And the first of all the firstfruits of all kinds, and every offering of all kinds from all your offerings, shall belong to the priests. You shall also give to the priests the first of your dough, that a blessing may rest on your house.

³¹The priests shall not eat of anything, whether bird or beast, that has died of itself or is torn by wild animals.

¹And when it was decided that we should sail for Italy, they delivered Paul and some other prisoners to a centurion of the Augustan Cohort named Julius.

²And embarking in a ship of Adramyttium, which was about to sail to the ports along the coast of Asia, we put to sea, accompanied by Aristarchus, a Macedonian from Thessalonica.

³The next day we put in at Sidon. And Julius treated Paul kindly and gave him leave to go to his friends and be cared for.

⁴And putting out to sea from there we sailed under the lee of Cyprus, because the winds were against us.

⁵And when we had sailed across the open sea along the coast of Cilicia and Pamphylia, we came to Myra in Lycia.

⁶There the centurion found a ship of Alexandria sailing for Italy and put us on board.

⁷We sailed slowly for a number of days and arrived with difficulty off Cnidus, and as the wind did not allow us to go farther, we sailed under the lee of Crete off Salmone.

⁸Coasting along it with difficulty, we came to a place called Fair Havens, near which was the city of Lasea.

⁹Since much time had passed, and the voyage was now dangerous because even the Fast was already over, Paul advised them,

¹⁰saying, “Sirs, I perceive that the voyage will be with injury and much loss, not only of the cargo and the ship, but also of our lives.”

¹¹But the centurion paid more attention to the pilot and to the owner of the ship than to what Paul said.

¹²And because the harbor was not suitable to spend the winter in, the majority decided to put out to sea from there, on the chance that somehow they could reach Phoenix, a harbor of Crete, facing both southwest and northwest, and spend the winter there.

¹³Now when the south wind blew gently, supposing that they had obtained their purpose, they weighed anchor and sailed along Crete, close to the shore.

¹⁴But soon a tempestuous wind, called the northeaster, struck down from the land.

¹⁵And when the ship was caught and could not face the wind, we gave way to it and were driven along.

¹⁶Running under the lee of a small island called Cauda, we managed with difficulty to secure the ship's boat.

¹⁷After hoisting it up, they used supports to undergird the ship. Then, fearing that they would run aground on the Syrtis, they lowered the gear, and thus they were driven along.

¹⁸Since we were violently storm-tossed, they began the next day to jettison the cargo.

¹⁹And on the third day they threw the ship's tackle overboard with their own hands.

²⁰When neither sun nor stars appeared for many days, and no small tempest lay on us, all hope of our being saved was at last abandoned.

²¹Since they had been without food for a long time, Paul stood up among them and said, “Men, you should have listened to me and not have set sail from Crete and incurred this injury and loss.

²²Yet now I urge you to take heart, for there will be no loss of life among you, but only of the ship.

²³For this very night there stood before me an angel of the God to whom I belong and whom I worship,

²⁴and he said, ‘Do not be afraid, Paul; you must stand before Caesar. And behold, God has granted you all those who sail with you.’

²⁵So take heart, men, for I have faith in God that it will be exactly as I have been told.

²⁶But we must run aground on some island.”

²⁷When the fourteenth night had come, as we were being driven across the Adriatic Sea, about midnight the sailors suspected that they were nearing land.

²⁸So they took a sounding and found twenty fathoms. A little farther on they took a sounding again and found fifteen fathoms.

²⁹And fearing that we might run on the rocks, they let down four anchors from the stern and prayed for day to come.

³⁰And as the sailors were seeking to escape from the ship, and had lowered the ship's boat into the sea under pretense of laying out anchors from the bow,

³¹Paul said to the centurion and the soldiers, “Unless these men stay in the ship, you cannot be saved.”

³²Then the soldiers cut away the ropes of the ship's boat and let it go.

³³As day was about to dawn, Paul urged them all to take some food, saying, “Today is the fourteenth day that you have continued in suspense and without food, having taken nothing.

³⁴Therefore I urge you to take some food. For it will give you strength, for not a hair is to perish from the head of any of you.”

³⁵And when he had said these things, he took bread, and giving thanks to God in the presence of all he broke it and began to eat.

³⁶Then they all were encouraged and ate some food themselves.

³⁷(We were in all 276 persons in the ship.)

³⁸And when they had eaten enough, they lightened the ship, throwing out the wheat into the sea.

³⁹Now when it was day, they did not recognize the land, but they noticed a bay with a beach, on which they planned if possible to run the ship ashore.

⁴⁰So they cast off the anchors and left them in the sea, at the same time loosening the ropes that tied the rudders. Then hoisting the foresail to the wind they made for the beach.

⁴¹But striking a reef, they ran the vessel aground. The bow stuck and remained immovable, and the stern was being broken up by the surf.

⁴²The soldiers' plan was to kill the prisoners, lest any should swim away and escape.

⁴³But the centurion, wishing to save Paul, kept them from carrying out their plan. He ordered those who could swim to jump overboard first and make for the land,

⁴⁴and the rest on planks or on pieces of the ship. And so it was that all were brought safely to land.