Professor Horner’s Reading Plan

¹“Most assuredly, I say to you, he who does not enter the sheepfold by the door, but climbs up some other way, the same is a thief and a robber.

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

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

⁴And when he brings out his own sheep, he goes before them; and the sheep follow him, for they know his voice.

⁵Yet they will by no means follow a stranger, but will flee from him, for they do not know the voice of strangers.”

⁶Jesus used this illustration, but they did not understand the things which He spoke to them.

⁷Then Jesus said to them again, “Most assuredly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep.

⁸All who ever came before Me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not hear 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 does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.

¹¹“I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd gives His life for the sheep.

¹²But a hireling, he who is not the shepherd, one who does not own the sheep, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and flees; and the wolf catches the sheep and scatters them.

¹³The hireling flees because he is a hireling and does not care about the sheep.

¹⁴I am the good shepherd; and I know My sheep, and am known by My own.

¹⁵As the Father knows Me, even so I know the Father; and I lay down My life for the sheep.

¹⁶And other sheep I have which are not of this fold; them also I must bring, and they will hear My voice; and there will be one flock and one shepherd.

¹⁷“Therefore My Father loves Me, because I lay down My life that I may take it again.

¹⁸No one takes it from Me, but I lay it down of Myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again. This command I have received from My Father.”

¹⁹Therefore there was a division again among the Jews because of these sayings.

²⁰And many of them said, “He has a demon and is mad. Why do you listen to Him?”

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

²²Now it was the Feast of Dedication in Jerusalem, and it was winter.

²³And Jesus walked in the temple, in Solomon’s porch.

²⁴Then the Jews surrounded Him and said to Him, “How long do You keep us in doubt? 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, they bear witness of Me.

²⁶But you do not believe, because you are not of My sheep, as I said to you.

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

²⁸And I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; neither shall anyone 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 My Father’s hand.

³⁰I and My Father are one.”

³¹Then the Jews took up stones again to stone Him.

³²Jesus answered them, “Many good works I have shown you from My Father. For which of those works do you stone Me?”

³³The Jews answered Him, saying, “For a good work we do not stone You, but for blasphemy, and 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 the Scripture cannot be broken),

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

³⁷If I do not do the works of My Father, do not believe Me;

³⁸but if I do, though you do not believe Me, believe the works, that you may know and believe that the Father is in Me, and I in Him.”

³⁹Therefore they sought again to seize Him, but He escaped out of their hand.

⁴⁰And He went away again beyond the Jordan to the place where John was baptizing at first, and there He stayed.

⁴¹Then many came to Him and said, “John performed no sign, but all the things that John spoke about this Man were true.”

⁴²And many believed in Him there.

¹“You are the children of the LORD your God; you shall not cut yourselves nor shave the front of your head for the dead.

²For you are a holy people to the LORD your God, and the LORD has chosen you to be a people for Himself, a special treasure above all the peoples who are on the face of the earth.

³“You shall not eat any detestable thing.

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

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

⁶And you may eat every animal with cloven hooves, having the hoof split into two parts, and that chews the cud, among the animals.

⁷Nevertheless, of those that chew the cud or have cloven hooves, you shall not eat, such as these: the camel, the hare, and the rock hyrax; for they chew the cud but do not have cloven hooves; they are unclean for you.

⁸Also the swine is unclean for you, because it has cloven hooves, yet does not chew the cud; you shall not eat their flesh or touch their dead carcasses.

⁹“These you may eat of all that are in the waters: you may eat all that have fins and scales.

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

¹¹“All clean birds you may eat.

¹²But these you shall not eat: the eagle, the vulture, the buzzard,

¹³the red kite, the falcon, and the kite after their kinds;

¹⁴every raven after its kind;

¹⁵the ostrich, the short-eared owl, the sea gull, and the hawk after their kinds;

¹⁶the little owl, the screech owl, the white owl,

¹⁷the jackdaw, the carrion vulture, the fisher owl,

¹⁸the stork, the heron after its kind, and the hoopoe and the bat.

¹⁹“Also every creeping thing that flies is unclean for you; they shall not be eaten.

²⁰“You may eat all clean birds.

²¹“You shall not eat anything that dies of itself; you may give it to the alien who is within your gates, that he may eat it, or you may sell it to a foreigner; for you are a holy people to the LORD your God. “ You shall not boil a young goat in its mother’s milk.

²²“You shall truly tithe all the increase of your grain that the field produces year by year.

²³And you shall eat before the LORD your God, in the place where He chooses to make His name abide, the tithe of your grain and your new wine and your oil, of the firstborn of your herds and your flocks, that you may learn to fear the LORD your God always.

²⁴But if the journey is too long for you, so that you are not able to carry the tithe, or if the place where the LORD your God chooses to put His name is too far from you, when the LORD your God has blessed you,

²⁵then you shall exchange it for money, take the money in your hand, and go to the place which the LORD your God chooses.

²⁶And you shall spend that money for whatever your heart desires: for oxen or sheep, for wine or similar drink, for whatever your heart desires; you shall eat there before the LORD your God, and you shall rejoice, you and your household.

²⁷You shall not forsake the Levite who is within your gates, for he has no part nor inheritance with you.

²⁸“At the end of every third year you shall bring out the tithe of your produce of that year and store it up within your gates.

²⁹And the Levite, because he has no portion nor inheritance with you, and the stranger and the fatherless and the widow who are within your gates, may come and eat and be satisfied, that the LORD your God may bless you in all the work of your hand which you do.

¹I say then, has God cast away His people? Certainly not! For I also am an Israelite, of the seed of Abraham, of the tribe of Benjamin.

²God has not cast away His people whom He foreknew. Or do you not know what the Scripture says of Elijah, how he pleads with God against Israel, saying,

³“LORD, they have killed Your prophets and torn down Your altars, and I alone am left, and they seek my life”?

⁴But what does the divine response say to him? “I have reserved for Myself seven thousand men who have not bowed the knee to Baal.”

⁵Even so then, at this present time there is a remnant according to the election of grace.

⁶And if by grace, then it is no longer of works; otherwise grace is no longer grace. But if it is of works, it is no longer grace; otherwise work is no longer work.

⁷What then? Israel has not obtained what it seeks; but the elect have obtained it, and the rest were blinded.

⁸Just as it is written: “God has given them a spirit of stupor, Eyes that they should not see And ears that they should not hear, To this very day.”

⁹And David says: “Let their table become a snare and a trap, A stumbling block and a recompense to them.

¹⁰Let their eyes be darkened, so that they do not see, And bow down their back always.”

¹¹I say then, have they stumbled that they should fall? Certainly not! But through their fall, to provoke them to jealousy, salvation has come to the Gentiles.

¹²Now if their fall is riches for the world, and their failure riches for the Gentiles, how much more their fullness!

¹³For I speak to you Gentiles; inasmuch as I am an apostle to the Gentiles, I magnify my ministry,

¹⁴if by any means I may provoke to jealousy those who are my flesh and save some of them.

¹⁵For if their being cast away is the reconciling of the world, what will their acceptance be but life from the dead?

¹⁶For if the firstfruit is holy, the lump is also holy; and if the root is holy, so are the branches.

¹⁷And if some of the branches were broken off, and you, being a wild olive tree, were grafted in among them, and with them became a partaker of the root and fatness of the olive tree,

¹⁸do not boast against the branches. But if you do boast, remember that you do not support the root, but the root supports you.

¹⁹You will say then, “Branches were broken off that I might be grafted in.”

²⁰Well said. Because of unbelief they were broken off, and you stand by faith. Do not be haughty, but fear.

²¹For if God did not spare the natural branches, He may not spare you either.

²²Therefore consider the goodness and severity of God: on those who fell, severity; but toward you, goodness, if you continue in His goodness. Otherwise you also will be cut off.

²³And they also, if they do not continue in unbelief, will be grafted in, for God is able to graft them in again.

²⁴For if you were cut out of the olive tree which is wild by nature, and were grafted contrary to nature into a cultivated olive tree, how much more will these, who are natural branches, be grafted into their own olive tree?

²⁵For I do not desire, brethren, that you should be ignorant of this mystery, lest you should be wise in your own opinion, that blindness in part has happened to Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in.

²⁶And so all Israel will be saved, as it is written: “The Deliverer will come out of Zion, And He will turn away ungodliness from Jacob;

²⁷For this is My covenant with them, When I take away their sins.”

²⁸Concerning the gospel they are enemies for your sake, but concerning the election they are beloved for the sake of the fathers.

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

³⁰For as you were once disobedient to God, yet have now obtained mercy through their disobedience,

³¹even so these also have now been disobedient, that through the mercy shown you they also may obtain mercy.

³²For God has committed them all to disobedience, that He might have mercy on all.

³³Oh, the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments and His ways past finding out!

³⁴“For who has known the mind of the LORD? Or who has become His counselor?”

³⁵“Or who has first given to Him And it shall be repaid to him?”

³⁶For of Him and through Him and to Him are all things, to whom be glory forever. Amen.

¹My little children, these things I write to you, so that you may not sin. And if anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.

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

³Now by this we know that we know Him, if we keep His commandments.

⁴He who says, “I know Him,” and does not keep His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him.

⁵But whoever keeps His word, truly the love of God is perfected in him. By this we know that we are in Him.

⁶He who says he abides in Him ought himself also to walk just as He walked.

⁷Brethren, I write no new commandment to you, but an old commandment which you have had from the beginning. The old commandment is the word which you heard from the beginning.

⁸Again, a new commandment I write to you, which thing is true in Him and in you, because the darkness is passing away, and the true light is already shining.

⁹He who says he is in the light, and hates his brother, is in darkness until now.

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

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

¹²I write to you, little children, Because your sins are forgiven you for His name’s sake.

¹³I write to you, fathers, Because you have known Him who is from the beginning. I write to you, young men, Because you have overcome the wicked one. I write to you, little children, Because you have known the Father.

¹⁴I have written to you, fathers, Because you have known Him who is from the beginning. I have written to you, young men, Because you are strong, and the word of God abides in you, And you have overcome the wicked 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 lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—is not of the Father but is of the world.

¹⁷And the world is passing away, and the lust of it; but he who does the will of God abides forever.

¹⁸Little children, it is the last hour; and as you have heard that the Antichrist is coming, even now many antichrists have come, by which 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 they might be made manifest, that none of them were of us.

²⁰But you have an anointing from the Holy One, and you know all things.

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

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

²³Whoever denies the Son does not have the Father either; he who acknowledges the Son has the Father also.

²⁴Therefore let that abide in you which you heard from the beginning. If what you heard from the beginning abides in you, you also will abide in the Son and in the Father.

²⁵And this is the promise that He has promised us—eternal life.

²⁶These things I have written to you concerning those who try to deceive you.

²⁷But the anointing which you have received from Him abides in you, and you do not need that anyone teach you; but as the same anointing teaches you concerning all things, and is true, and is not a lie, and just as it has taught you, you will abide in Him.

²⁸And now, little children, abide in Him, that when He appears, we may have confidence and not be ashamed before Him at His coming.

²⁹If you know that He is righteous, you know that everyone who practices righteousness is born of Him.

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

²“Vanity of vanities,” says the Preacher; “Vanity of vanities, all is vanity.”

³What profit has a man from all his labor In which he toils under the sun?

⁴One generation passes away, and another generation comes; But the earth abides forever.

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

⁶The wind goes toward the south, And turns around to the north; The wind whirls about continually, And comes again on its circuit.

⁷All the rivers run into the sea, Yet the sea is not full; To the place from which the rivers come, There they return again.

⁸All things are full of labor; Man cannot express it. The eye is not satisfied with seeing, Nor the ear filled with hearing.

⁹That which has been is what will be, That which is done is what will be done, And there is nothing new under the sun.

¹⁰Is there anything of which it may be said, “See, this is new”? It has already been in ancient times before us.

¹¹There is no remembrance of former things, Nor will there be any remembrance of things that are to come By those who will come after.

¹²I, the Preacher, was king over Israel in Jerusalem.

¹³And I set my heart to seek and search out by wisdom concerning all that is done under heaven; this burdensome task God has given to the sons of man, by which they may be exercised.

¹⁴I have seen all the works that are done under the sun; and indeed, all is vanity and grasping for the wind.

¹⁵What is crooked cannot be made straight, And what is lacking cannot be numbered.

¹⁶I communed with my heart, saying, “Look, I have attained greatness, and have gained more wisdom than all who were before me in Jerusalem. My heart has understood great wisdom and knowledge.”

¹⁷And I set my heart to know wisdom and to know madness and folly. I perceived that this also is grasping for the wind.

¹⁸For in much wisdom is much grief, And he who increases knowledge increases sorrow.

¹A Prayer of David. [1] Hear a just cause, O LORD, Attend to my cry; Give ear to my prayer which is not from deceitful lips.

²Let my vindication come from Your presence; Let Your eyes look on the things that are upright.

³You have tested my heart; You have visited me in the night; You have tried me and have found nothing; I have purposed that my mouth shall not transgress.

⁴Concerning the works of men, By the word of Your lips, I have kept away from the paths of the destroyer.

⁵Uphold my steps in Your paths, That my footsteps may not slip.

⁶I have called upon You, for You will hear me, O God; Incline Your ear to me, and hear my speech.

⁷Show Your marvelous lovingkindness by Your right hand, O You who save those who trust in You From those who rise up against them.

⁸Keep me as the apple of Your eye; Hide me under the shadow of Your wings,

⁹From the wicked who oppress me, From my deadly enemies who surround me.

¹⁰They have closed up their fat hearts; With their mouths they speak proudly.

¹¹They have now surrounded us in our steps; They have set their eyes, crouching down to the earth,

¹²As a lion is eager to tear his prey, And like a young lion lurking in secret places.

¹³Arise, O LORD, Confront him, cast him down; Deliver my life from the wicked with Your sword,

¹⁴With Your hand from men, O LORD, From men of the world who have their portion in this life, And whose belly You fill with Your hidden treasure. They are satisfied with children, And leave the rest of their possession for their babes.

¹⁵As for me, I will see Your face in righteousness; I shall be satisfied when I awake in Your likeness.

¹Whoever loves instruction loves knowledge, But he who hates correction is stupid.

²A good man obtains favor from the LORD, But a man of wicked intentions He will condemn.

³A man is not established by wickedness, But the root of the righteous cannot be moved.

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

⁵The thoughts of the righteous are right, But the counsels of the wicked are deceitful.

⁶The words of the wicked are, “Lie in wait for blood,” But the mouth of the upright will deliver them.

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

⁸A man will be commended according to his wisdom, But he who is of a perverse heart will be despised.

⁹Better is the one who is slighted but has a servant, Than he who honors himself but lacks bread.

¹⁰A righteous man regards the life of his animal, But the tender mercies of the wicked are cruel.

¹¹He who tills his land will be satisfied with bread, But he who follows frivolity is devoid of understanding.

¹²The wicked covet the catch of evil men, But the root of the righteous yields fruit.

¹³The wicked is ensnared by the transgression of his lips, But the righteous will come through trouble.

¹⁴A man will be satisfied with good by the fruit of his mouth, And the recompense of a man’s hands will be rendered to him.

¹⁵The way of a fool is right in his own eyes, But he who heeds counsel is wise.

¹⁶A fool’s wrath is known at once, But a prudent man covers shame.

¹⁷He who speaks truth declares righteousness, But a false witness, deceit.

¹⁸There is one who speaks like the piercings of a sword, But the tongue of the wise promotes health.

¹⁹The truthful lip shall be established forever, But a lying tongue is but for a moment.

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

²¹No grave trouble will overtake the righteous, But the wicked shall be filled with evil.

²²Lying lips are an abomination to the LORD, But those who deal truthfully are His delight.

²³A prudent man conceals knowledge, But the heart of fools proclaims foolishness.

²⁴The hand of the diligent will rule, But the lazy man will be put to forced labor.

²⁵Anxiety in the heart of man causes depression, But a good word makes it glad.

²⁶The righteous should choose his friends carefully, For the way of the wicked leads them astray.

²⁷The lazy man does not roast what he took in hunting, But diligence is man’s precious possession.

²⁸In the way of righteousness is life, And in its pathway there is no death.

¹So they brought the ark of God, and set it in the midst of the tabernacle that David had erected for it. Then 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.

³Then he distributed to everyone of Israel, both man and woman, to everyone a loaf of bread, a piece of meat, and a cake of raisins.

⁴And he appointed some of the Levites to minister before the ark of the LORD, to commemorate, to thank, and to praise the LORD God of Israel:

⁵Asaph the chief, and next to him Zechariah, then Jeiel, Shemiramoth, Jehiel, Mattithiah, Eliab, Benaiah, and Obed-Edom: Jeiel with stringed instruments and harps, but Asaph made music with cymbals;

⁶Benaiah and Jahaziel the priests regularly blew the trumpets before the ark of the covenant of God.

⁷On that day David first delivered this psalm into the hand of Asaph and his brethren, to thank the LORD:

⁸Oh, give thanks to the LORD! Call upon His name; Make known His deeds among the peoples!

⁹Sing to Him, sing psalms to Him; Talk of all His wondrous works!

¹⁰Glory in His holy name; Let the hearts of those rejoice who seek the LORD!

¹¹Seek the LORD and His strength; Seek His face evermore!

¹²Remember His marvelous works which He has done, His wonders, and the judgments of His mouth,

¹³O seed of Israel His servant, You 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 which He commanded, for a thousand generations,

¹⁶The covenant which He made with Abraham, And His oath to Isaac,

¹⁷And confirmed it to Jacob for a statute, To Israel for an everlasting covenant,

¹⁸Saying, “To you I will give the land of Canaan As the allotment of your inheritance,”

¹⁹When you were few in number, Indeed very few, and strangers in it.

²⁰When they went from one nation to another, And from one kingdom to another people,

²¹He permitted no man to do them wrong; Yes, He rebuked kings for their sakes,

²²Saying, “Do not touch My anointed ones, And do My prophets no harm.”

²³Sing to the LORD, all the earth; Proclaim the good news of His salvation from day to day.

²⁴Declare His glory among the nations, His wonders among all peoples.

²⁵For the LORD is great and greatly to be praised; He is also to be feared above all gods.

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

²⁷Honor and majesty are before Him; Strength and gladness are in His place.

²⁸Give to the LORD, O families of the peoples, Give to the LORD glory and strength.

²⁹Give to the LORD the glory due His name; Bring an offering, and come before Him. Oh, worship the LORD in the beauty of holiness!

³⁰Tremble before Him, all the earth. The world also is firmly established, It shall not be moved.

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

³²Let the sea roar, and all its fullness; Let the field rejoice, and all that is in it.

³³Then the trees of the woods shall rejoice before the LORD, For He is coming to judge the earth.

³⁴Oh, give thanks to the LORD, for He is good! For His mercy endures forever.

³⁵And say, “Save us, O God of our salvation; Gather us together, and deliver us from the Gentiles, To give thanks to Your holy name, To triumph in Your praise.”

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

³⁷So he left Asaph and his brothers there before the ark of the covenant of the LORD to minister before the ark regularly, as every day’s work required;

³⁸and Obed-Edom with his sixty-eight brethren, including Obed-Edom the son of Jeduthun, and Hosah, to be gatekeepers;

³⁹and Zadok the priest and his brethren the priests, before the tabernacle of the LORD at the high place that was at Gibeon,

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

⁴¹and with them Heman and Jeduthun and the rest who were chosen, who were designated by name, to give thanks to the LORD, because His mercy endures forever;

⁴²and with them Heman and Jeduthun, to sound aloud with trumpets and cymbals and the musical instruments of God. Now the sons of Jeduthun were gatekeepers.

⁴³Then all the people departed, every man to his house; and David returned to bless his house.

¹Then He brought me back to the outer gate of the sanctuary which faces toward the east, but it was shut.

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

³As for the prince, because he is the prince, he may sit in it to eat bread before the LORD; he shall enter by way of the vestibule of the gateway, and go out the same way.”

⁴Also He brought me by way of the north gate to the front of the temple; so I looked, and behold, the glory of the LORD filled the house 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 say to you concerning all the ordinances of the house of the LORD and all its laws. Mark well who may enter the house and all who go out from the sanctuary.

⁶“Now say to the rebellious, to the house of Israel, ‘Thus says the Lord GOD: “O house of Israel, let Us have no more of all your abominations.

⁷When you brought in foreigners, uncircumcised in heart and uncircumcised in flesh, to be in My sanctuary to defile it—My house—and when you offered My food, the fat and the blood, then they broke My covenant because of all your abominations.

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

⁹Thus says the Lord GOD: “No foreigner, uncircumcised in heart or uncircumcised in flesh, shall enter My sanctuary, including any foreigner who is among the children of Israel.

¹⁰“And the Levites who went far from Me, when Israel went astray, who strayed away from Me after their idols, they shall bear their iniquity.

¹¹Yet they shall be ministers in My sanctuary, as gatekeepers of the house and ministers of the house; they shall slay the burnt offering and the sacrifice for the people, and they shall stand before them to minister to them.

¹²Because they ministered to them before their idols and caused the house of Israel to fall into iniquity, therefore I have raised My hand in an oath against them,” says the Lord GOD, “that they shall bear their iniquity.

¹³And they shall not come near Me to minister to Me as priest, nor come near any of My holy things, nor into the Most Holy Place; but they shall bear their shame and their abominations which they have committed.

¹⁴Nevertheless I will make them keep charge of the temple, for all its work, and for all that has to be done in it.

¹⁵“But the priests, the Levites, the sons of Zadok, who kept charge of My sanctuary when the children of Israel went astray from Me, they shall come near Me to minister to Me; and they shall stand before Me to offer to Me the fat and the blood,” says the Lord GOD.

¹⁶“They shall enter My sanctuary, and they shall come near My table to minister to Me, and they shall keep My charge.

¹⁷And it shall be, whenever they enter the gates of the inner court, that they shall put on linen garments; no wool shall come upon them while they minister within the gates of the inner court or within the house.

¹⁸They shall have linen turbans on their heads and linen trousers on their bodies; they shall not clothe themselves with anything that causes sweat.

¹⁹When they go out to the outer court, to the outer court to the people, they shall take off their garments in which they have ministered, leave them in the holy chambers, and put on other garments; and in their holy garments they shall not sanctify the people.

²⁰“They shall neither shave their heads nor let their hair grow long, but they shall keep their hair well trimmed.

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

²²They shall not take as wife a widow or a divorced woman, but take virgins of the descendants of the house of Israel, or widows of priests.

²³“And they shall teach My people the difference between the holy and the unholy, and cause them to discern between the unclean and the clean.

²⁴In controversy they shall stand as judges, and judge it according to My judgments. They shall keep My laws and My statutes in all My appointed meetings, and they shall hallow My Sabbaths.

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

²⁶After he is cleansed, they shall count seven days for him.

²⁷And on the day that he goes to the sanctuary to minister in the sanctuary, he must offer his sin offering in the inner court,” says the Lord GOD.

²⁸“It shall be, in regard to their inheritance, that I am their inheritance. You shall give them no possession in Israel, for I am their possession.

²⁹They shall eat the grain offering, the sin offering, and the trespass offering; every dedicated thing in Israel shall be theirs.

³⁰The best of all firstfruits of any kind, and every sacrifice of any kind from all your sacrifices, shall be the priest’s; also you shall give to the priest the first of your ground meal, to cause a blessing to rest on your house.

³¹The priests shall not eat anything, bird or beast, that died naturally or was torn by wild beasts.

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

²So, entering a ship of Adramyttium, we put to sea, meaning to sail along the coasts of Asia. Aristarchus, a Macedonian of Thessalonica, was with us.

³And the next day we landed at Sidon. And Julius treated Paul kindly and gave him liberty to go to his friends and receive care.

⁴When we had put to sea from there, we sailed under the shelter of Cyprus, because the winds were contrary.

⁵And when we had sailed over the sea which is off Cilicia and Pamphylia, we came to Myra, a city of Lycia.

⁶There the centurion found an Alexandrian ship sailing to Italy, and he put us on board.

⁷When we had sailed slowly many days, and arrived with difficulty off Cnidus, the wind not permitting us to proceed, we sailed under the shelter of Crete off Salmone.

⁸Passing it with difficulty, we came to a place called Fair Havens, near the city of Lasea.

⁹Now when much time had been spent, and sailing was now dangerous because the Fast was already over, Paul advised them,

¹⁰saying, “Men, I perceive that this voyage will end with disaster and much loss, not only of the cargo and ship, but also our lives.”

¹¹Nevertheless the centurion was more persuaded by the helmsman and the owner of the ship than by the things spoken by Paul.

¹²And because the harbor was not suitable to winter in, the majority advised to set sail from there also, if by any means they could reach Phoenix, a harbor of Crete opening toward the southwest and northwest, and winter there.

¹³When the south wind blew softly, supposing that they had obtained their desire, putting out to sea, they sailed close by Crete.

¹⁴But not long after, a tempestuous head wind arose, called Euroclydon.

¹⁵So when the ship was caught, and could not head into the wind, we let her drive.

¹⁶And running under the shelter of an island called Clauda, we secured the skiff with difficulty.

¹⁷When they had taken it on board, they used cables to undergird the ship; and fearing lest they should run aground on the Syrtis Sands, they struck sail and so were driven.

¹⁸And because we were exceedingly tempest-tossed, the next day they lightened the ship.

¹⁹On the third day we threw the ship’s tackle overboard with our own hands.

²⁰Now when neither sun nor stars appeared for many days, and no small tempest beat on us, all hope that we would be saved was finally given up.

²¹But after long abstinence from food, then Paul stood in the midst of them and said, “Men, you should have listened to me, and not have sailed from Crete and incurred this disaster and loss.

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

²³For there stood by me this night an angel of the God to whom I belong and whom I serve,

²⁴saying, ‘Do not be afraid, Paul; you must be brought before Caesar; and indeed God has granted you all those who sail with you.’

²⁵Therefore take heart, men, for I believe God that it will be just as it was told me.

²⁶However, we must run aground on a certain island.”

²⁷Now when the fourteenth night had come, as we were driven up and down in the Adriatic Sea, about midnight the sailors sensed that they were drawing near some land.

²⁸And they took soundings and found it to be twenty fathoms; and when they had gone a little farther, they took soundings again and found it to be fifteen fathoms.

²⁹Then, fearing lest we should run aground on the rocks, they dropped four anchors from the stern, and prayed for day to come.

³⁰And as the sailors were seeking to escape from the ship, when they had let down the skiff into the sea, under pretense of putting out anchors from the prow,

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 skiff and let it fall off.

³³And as day was about to dawn, Paul implored them all to take food, saying, “Today is the fourteenth day you have waited and continued without food, and eaten nothing.

³⁴Therefore I urge you to take nourishment, for this is for your survival, since not a hair will fall from the head of any of you.”

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

³⁶Then they were all encouraged, and also took food themselves.

³⁷And in all we were two hundred and seventy-six persons on the ship.

³⁸So when they had eaten enough, they lightened the ship and threw out the wheat into the sea.

³⁹When it was day, they did not recognize the land; but they observed a bay with a beach, onto which they planned to run the ship if possible.

⁴⁰And they let go the anchors and left them in the sea, meanwhile loosing the rudder ropes; and they hoisted the mainsail to the wind and made for shore.

⁴¹But striking a place where two seas met, they ran the ship aground; and the prow stuck fast and remained immovable, but the stern was being broken up by the violence of the waves.

⁴²And the soldiers’ plan was to kill the prisoners, lest any of them should swim away and escape.

⁴³But the centurion, wanting to save Paul, kept them from their purpose, and commanded that those who could swim should jump overboard first and get to land,

⁴⁴and the rest, some on boards and some on parts of the ship. And so it was that they all escaped safely to land.