Professor Horner’s Reading Plan

¹“Very truly, I tell you, anyone who does not enter the sheepfold by the gate but climbs in by another way is a thief and a bandit.

²The one who enters by the gate is the shepherd of the sheep.

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

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

⁵They will not follow a stranger, but they will run from him because they do not know the voice of strangers.”

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

⁷So again Jesus said to them, “Very truly, I tell you, I am the gate for the sheep.

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

⁹I am the gate. Whoever enters by me will be saved, and will come in and go 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.

¹²The hired hand, who is not the shepherd and does not own the sheep, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and runs away — and the wolf snatches them and scatters them.

¹³The hired hand runs away because a hired hand does not care for the sheep.

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

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

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

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

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

¹⁹Again the Jews were divided because of these words.

²⁰Many of them were saying, “He has a demon and is out of his mind. Why listen to him?”

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

²²At that time the festival of the Dedication took place in Jerusalem. It was winter,

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

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

²⁵Jesus answered, “I have told you, and you do not believe. The works that I do in my Father’s name testify to me;

²⁶but you do not believe, because you do not belong to my sheep.

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

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

²⁹What my Father has given me is greater than all else, and no one can snatch it out of the Father’s hand.

³⁰The Father and I are one.”

³¹The Jews took up stones again to stone him.

³²Jesus replied, “I have shown you many good works from the Father. For which of these are you going to stone me?”

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

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

³⁵If those to whom the word of God came were called ‘gods’ — and the scripture cannot be annulled —

³⁶can you say that the one whom the Father has sanctified and sent into the world is blaspheming because I said, ‘I am God’s Son’?

³⁷If 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, so that you may know and understand that the Father is in me and I am in the Father.”

³⁹Then they tried to arrest him again, but he escaped from their hands.

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

⁴¹Many came to him, and they were saying, “John performed no sign, but everything that John said about this man was true.”

⁴²And many believed in him there.

¹You are children of the LORD your God. You must not lacerate yourselves or shave your forelocks for the dead.

²For you are a people holy to the LORD your God; it is you the LORD has chosen out of all the peoples on earth to be his people, his treasured possession.

³You shall not eat any abhorrent thing.

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.

⁶Any animal that divides the hoof and has the hoof cleft in two, and chews the cud, among the animals, you may eat.

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

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

⁹Of all that live in water 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.

¹¹You may eat any clean birds.

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

¹³the buzzard, the kite 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 great owl, the water hen

¹⁷and the desert 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.

²⁰You may eat any clean winged creature.

²¹You shall not eat anything that dies of itself; you may give it to aliens residing in your towns for them to eat, or you may sell it to a foreigner. For you are a people holy to the LORD your God. You shall not boil a kid in its mother’s milk.

²²Set apart a tithe of all the yield of your seed that is brought in yearly from the field.

²³In the presence of the LORD your God, in the place that he will choose as a dwelling for his name, you shall eat the tithe of your grain, your wine, and your oil, as well as the firstlings of your herd and flock, so that you may learn to fear the LORD your God always.

²⁴But if, when the LORD your God has blessed you, the distance is so great that you are unable to transport it, because the place where the LORD your God will choose to set his name is too far away from you,

²⁵then you may turn it into money. With the money secure in hand, go to the place that the LORD your God will choose;

²⁶spend the money for whatever you wish — oxen, sheep, wine, strong drink, or whatever you desire. And you shall eat there in the presence of the LORD your God, you and your household rejoicing together.

²⁷As for the Levites resident in your towns, do not neglect them, because they have no allotment or inheritance with you.

²⁸Every third year you shall bring out the full tithe of your produce for that year, and store it within your towns;

²⁹the Levites, because they have no allotment or inheritance with you, as well as the resident aliens, the orphans, and the widows in your towns, may come and eat their fill so that the LORD your God may bless you in all the work that you undertake.

¹I ask, then, has God rejected his people? By no means! 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 pleads with God against Israel?

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

⁴But what is the divine reply to him? “I have kept for myself seven thousand 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 sluggish spirit, 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 keep their backs forever bent.”

¹¹So I ask, have they stumbled so as to fall? By no means! But through their stumbling salvation has come to the Gentiles, so as to make Israel jealous.

¹²Now if their stumbling means riches for the world, and if their defeat means riches for 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 glorify my ministry

¹⁴in order to make my own people jealous, and thus save some of them.

¹⁵For if their rejection is the reconciliation of the world, what will their acceptance be but life from the dead!

¹⁶If the part of the dough offered as first fruits is holy, then the whole batch is holy; and if the root is holy, then the branches also are holy.

¹⁷But if some of the branches were broken off, and you, a wild olive shoot, were grafted in their place to share the rich root of the olive tree,

¹⁸do not boast over the branches. If you do boast, remember that it is not you that support the root, but the root that supports you.

¹⁹You 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 only through faith. So do not become proud, but stand in awe.

²¹For if God did not spare the natural branches, perhaps he will not spare you.

²²Note then the kindness and the severity of God: severity toward those who have fallen, but God’s kindness toward you, provided you continue in his kindness; otherwise you also will be cut off.

²³And even those of Israel, if they do not persist in unbelief, will be grafted in, for God has the power to graft them in again.

²⁴For if you have been 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 natural branches be grafted back into their own olive tree.

²⁵So that you may not claim to be wiser than you are, brothers and sisters, I want you to understand this mystery: a hardening has come upon part of Israel, until the full number of the Gentiles has come in.

²⁶And so all Israel will be saved; as it is written, “Out of Zion will come the Deliverer; he will banish ungodliness from Jacob.”

²⁷“And this is my covenant with them, when I take away their sins.”

²⁸As regards the gospel they are enemies of God for your sake; but as regards election they are beloved, for the sake of their ancestors;

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

³⁰Just as you were once disobedient to God but have now received mercy because of their disobedience,

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

³²For God has imprisoned all in disobedience so that he may be merciful to all.

³³O 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, to receive a gift in return?”

³⁶For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be the 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;

²and he is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world.

³Now by this we may be sure that we know him, if we obey his commandments.

⁴Whoever says, “I have come to know him,” but does not obey his commandments, is a liar, and in such a person the truth does not exist;

⁵but whoever obeys his word, truly in this person the love of God has reached perfection. By this we may be sure that we are in him:

⁶whoever says, “I abide in him,” ought to walk just as he walked.

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

⁸Yet I am writing you a new commandment that is true in him and in you, because the darkness is passing away and the true light is already shining.

⁹Whoever says, “I am in the light,” while hating a brother or sister, is still in the darkness.

¹⁰Whoever loves a brother or sister lives in the light, and in such a person there is no cause for stumbling.

¹¹But whoever hates another believer is in the darkness, walks in the darkness, and does not know the way to go, because the darkness has brought on blindness.

¹²I am writing to you, little children, because your sins are forgiven on account of his name.

¹³I am writing to you, fathers, because you know him who is from the beginning. I am writing to you, young people, because you have conquered the evil one.

¹⁴I write to you, children, because you know the Father. I write to you, fathers, because you know him who is from the beginning. I write to you, young people, 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. The love of the Father is not in those who love the world;

¹⁶for all that is in the world — the desire of the flesh, the desire of the eyes, the pride in riches — comes not from the Father but from the world.

¹⁷And the world and its desire are passing away, but those who do the will of God live forever.

¹⁸Children, it is the last hour! As you have heard that antichrist is coming, so now many antichrists have come. From this we know that it is the last hour.

¹⁹They went out from us, but they did not belong to us; for if they had belonged to us, they would have remained with us. But by going out they made it plain that none of them belongs to us.

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

²¹I write to you, not because you do not know the truth, but because you know it, and you know that no lie comes from the truth.

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

²³No one who denies the Son has the Father; everyone who 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 will abide in the Son and in the Father.

²⁵And this is what he has promised us, eternal life.

²⁶I write these things to you concerning those who would deceive you.

²⁷As for you, the anointing that you received from him abides in you, and so you do not need anyone to teach you. But as his anointing teaches you about all things, and is true and is not a lie, and just as it has taught you, abide in him.

²⁸And now, little children, abide in him, so that when he is revealed we may have confidence and not be put to shame before him at his coming.

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

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

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

³What do people gain from all the toil at which they toil under the sun?

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

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

⁶The wind blows to the south, and goes around to the north; round and round 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 continue to flow.

⁸All things are wearisome; more than one can express; the eye is not satisfied with seeing, or the ear filled with hearing.

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

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

¹¹The people of long ago are not remembered, nor will there be any remembrance of people yet to come by those who come after them.

¹²I, the Teacher, when king over Israel in Jerusalem,

¹³applied my mind to seek and to search out by wisdom all that is done under heaven; it is an unhappy business that God has given to human beings to be busy with.

¹⁴I saw all the deeds that are done under the sun; and see, all is vanity and a chasing after wind.

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

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

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

¹⁸For in much wisdom is much vexation, and those who increase knowledge increase sorrow.

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

²From you let my vindication come; let your eyes see the right.

³If you try my heart, if you visit me by night, if you test me, you will find no wickedness in me; my mouth does not transgress.

⁴As for what others do, 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.

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

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

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

¹¹They track me down; now they surround me; they set their eyes to cast me to the ground.

¹²They are like a lion eager to tear, like a young lion lurking in ambush.

¹³Rise up, O LORD, confront them, overthrow them! By your sword deliver my life from the wicked,

¹⁴from mortals — by your hand, O LORD — from mortals whose portion in life is in this world. May their bellies be filled with what you have stored up for them; may their children have more than enough; may they leave something over to their little ones.

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

¹Whoever loves discipline loves knowledge, but those who hate to be rebuked are stupid.

²The good obtain favor from the LORD, but those who devise evil he condemns.

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

⁴A good 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 advice of the wicked is treacherous.

⁶The words of the wicked are a deadly ambush, but the speech of the upright delivers them.

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

⁸One is commended for good sense, but a perverse mind is despised.

⁹Better to be despised and have a servant, than to be self-important and lack food.

¹⁰The righteous know the needs of their animals, but the mercy of the wicked is cruel.

¹¹Those who till their land will have plenty of food, but those who follow worthless pursuits have no sense.

¹²The wicked covet the proceeds of wickedness, but the root of the righteous bears fruit.

¹³The evil are ensnared by the transgression of their lips, but the righteous escape from trouble.

¹⁴From the fruit of the mouth one is filled with good things, and manual labor has its reward.

¹⁵Fools think their own way is right, but the wise listen to advice.

¹⁶Fools show their anger at once, but the prudent ignore an insult.

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

¹⁸Rash words are like sword thrusts, but the tongue of the wise brings healing.

¹⁹Truthful lips endure forever, but a lying tongue lasts only a moment.

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

²¹No harm happens to 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.

²³One who is clever conceals knowledge, but the mind of a fool broadcasts folly.

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

²⁵Anxiety weighs down the human heart, but a good word cheers it up.

²⁶The righteous gives good advice to friends, but the way of the wicked leads astray.

²⁷The lazy do not roast their game, but the diligent obtain precious wealth.

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

¹They brought in the ark of God, and set it inside the tent that David had pitched for it; and they offered burnt offerings and offerings of well-being before God.

²When David had finished offering the burnt offerings and the offerings of well-being, he blessed the people in the name of the LORD;

³and he distributed to every person in Israel — man and woman alike — to each a loaf of bread, a portion of meat, and a cake of raisins.

⁴He appointed certain 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 Zechariah, Jeiel, Shemiramoth, Jehiel, Mattithiah, Eliab, Benaiah, Obed-edom, and Jeiel, with harps and lyres; Asaph was to sound the cymbals,

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

⁷Then on that day David first appointed the singing of praises to the LORD by Asaph and his kindred.

⁸O give thanks to the LORD, call on his name, make known his deeds among the peoples.

⁹Sing to him, sing praises to him, tell of all his wonderful 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 wonderful works he has done, his miracles, and the judgments he uttered,

¹³O offspring of his servant Israel, 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 they were few in number, of little account, and strangers in the land,

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, “Do not touch 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; he is to be revered 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 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 holy splendor;

³⁰tremble before him, all the earth. The world is firmly 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 is king!”

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.

³⁴O 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 rescue 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.

³⁷David left Asaph and his kinsfolk 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 kinsfolk; while Obed-edom son of Jeduthun and Hosah were to be gatekeepers.

³⁹And he left the priest Zadok and his kindred 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, according to 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 render thanks to the LORD, for his steadfast love endures forever.

⁴²Heman and Jeduthun had with them 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 to their homes, 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.

²The 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, because he is a prince, may sit in it to eat food 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 lo! the glory of the LORD filled the temple of the LORD; and I fell upon my face.

⁵The LORD said to me: Mortal, mark well, look closely, and listen attentively to all that I shall tell you concerning all the ordinances of the temple of the LORD and all its laws; and mark well those who may be admitted to the temple and all those who are to be excluded from the sanctuary.

⁶Say to the rebellious house, to the house of Israel, Thus says the Lord GOD: O house of Israel, let there be an end to 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 with all your abominations.

⁸And you have not kept charge of my sacred offerings; but you have appointed foreigners to act for you in keeping my charge in my sanctuary.

⁹Thus 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 serving in the temple; they shall slaughter the burnt offering and the sacrifice for the people, and they shall attend on them and serve them.

¹²Because they ministered to them before their idols and made the house of Israel stumble into iniquity, therefore I have sworn concerning them, says the Lord GOD, that they shall bear their punishment.

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

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

¹⁵But the levitical priests, the descendants 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 attend me to offer me the fat and the blood, says the Lord GOD.

¹⁶It is they who shall enter my sanctuary, it is they who 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 vestments; 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 on their loins; they shall not bind themselves with anything that causes sweat.

¹⁹When they go out into the outer court to the people, they shall remove the vestments in which they have been ministering, and lay them in the holy chambers; and they shall put on other garments, so that they may not communicate holiness to the people with their vestments.

²⁰They shall not shave their heads or let their locks grow long; they shall only 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 a virgin of the stock 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 controversy they shall act as judges, and they shall decide it according to my judgments. They shall keep my laws and my statutes regarding all my appointed festivals, and they shall keep my sabbaths holy.

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

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

²⁷On 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, says the Lord GOD.

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

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

³⁰The first of all the first fruits 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, in order that a blessing may rest on your house.

³¹The priests shall not eat of anything, whether bird or animal, that died of itself or was torn by animals.

¹When it was decided that we were to sail for Italy, they transferred Paul and some other prisoners to a centurion of the Augustan Cohort, named Julius.

²Embarking on a ship of Adramyttium that was about to set 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 allowed him to go to his friends to be cared for.

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

⁵After we had sailed across the sea that is off Cilicia and Pamphylia, we came to Myra in Lycia.

⁶There the centurion found an Alexandrian ship bound 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 was against us, we sailed under the lee of Crete off Salmone.

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

⁹Since much time had been lost and sailing was now dangerous, because even the Fast had already gone by, Paul advised them,

¹⁰saying, “Sirs, I can see that the voyage will be with danger and much heavy 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.

¹²Since the harbor was not suitable for spending the winter, the majority was in favor of putting to sea from there, on the chance that somehow they could reach Phoenix, where they could spend the winter. It was a harbor of Crete, facing southwest and northwest.

¹³When a moderate south wind began to blow, they thought they could achieve their purpose; so they weighed anchor and began to sail past Crete, close to the shore.

¹⁴But soon a violent wind, called the northeaster, rushed down from Crete.

¹⁵Since the ship was caught and could not be turned head-on into the wind, we gave way to it and were driven.

¹⁶By running under the lee of a small island called Cauda we were scarcely able to get the ship’s boat under control.

¹⁷After hoisting it up they took measures to undergird the ship; then, fearing that they would run on the Syrtis, they lowered the sea anchor and so were driven.

¹⁸We were being pounded by the storm so violently that on the next day they began to throw the cargo overboard,

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

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

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

²²I urge you now to keep up your courage, for there will be no loss of life among you, but only of the ship.

²³For last night there stood by 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 the emperor; and indeed, God has granted safety to all those who are sailing with you.’

²⁵So keep up your courage, men, for I have faith in God that it will be exactly as I have been told.

²⁶But we will have to run aground on some island.”

²⁷When the fourteenth night had come, as we were drifting across the sea of Adria, about midnight the sailors suspected that they were nearing land.

²⁸So they took soundings and found twenty fathoms; a little farther on they took soundings again and found fifteen fathoms.

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

³⁰But when the sailors tried to escape from the ship and had lowered the boat into the sea, on the pretext of putting 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 boat and set it adrift.

³³Just before daybreak, Paul urged all of them to take some food, saying, “Today is the fourteenth day that you have been in suspense and remaining without food, having eaten nothing.

³⁴Therefore I urge you to take some food, for it will help you survive; for none of you will lose a hair from your heads.”

³⁵After he had said this, he took bread; and giving thanks to God in the presence of all, he broke it and began to eat.

³⁶Then all of them were encouraged and took food for themselves.

³⁷(We were in all two hundred seventy-six persons in the ship.)

³⁸After they had satisfied their hunger, they lightened the ship by throwing the wheat into the sea.

³⁹In the morning they did not recognize the land, but they noticed a bay with a beach, on which they planned to run the ship ashore, if they could.

⁴⁰So they cast off the anchors and left them in the sea. At the same time they loosened the ropes that tied the steering-oars; then hoisting the foresail to the wind, they made for the beach.

⁴¹But striking a reef, they ran the ship aground; the bow stuck and remained immovable, but the stern was being broken up by the force of the waves.

⁴²The soldiers’ plan was to kill the prisoners, so that none might 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 to follow, some on planks and others on pieces of the ship. And so it was that all were brought safely to land.