Professor Horner’s Reading Plan

¹Now a certain man was sick: Lazarus of Bethany, the village of Mary and her sister Martha.

²And it was the Mary who anointed the Lord with ointment, and wiped His feet with her hair, whose brother Lazarus was sick.

³So the sisters sent word to Him, saying, “Lord, behold, he whom You love is sick.”

⁴But when Jesus heard this, He said, “This sickness is notmeant for death, but is for the glory of God, so that the Son of God may be glorified by it.”

⁵(Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister, and Lazarus.)

⁶So when He heard that he was sick, He then stayed two days longer in the place where He was.

⁷Then after this He *said to the disciples, “Let’s go to Judea again.”

⁸The disciples *said to Him, “Rabbi, the Jews were just now seeking to stone You, and yet You are going there again?”

⁹Jesus replied, “Are there not twelve hours in the day? If anyone walks during the day, he does not stumble, because he sees the light of this world.

¹⁰But if anyone walks during the night, he stumbles, because the light is not inhim.”

¹¹This He said, and after this He *said to them, “Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep; but I am going so that I may awaken him from sleep.”

¹²The disciples then said to Him, “Lord, if he has fallen asleep, he will come out of it.”

¹³Now Jesus had spoken of his death, but they thought that He was speaking about actual sleep.

¹⁴So Jesus then said to them plainly, “Lazarus died,

¹⁵and I am glad for your sakes that I was not there, so that you may believe; but let’s go to him.”

¹⁶Therefore Thomas, who was called Didymus, said to his fellow disciples, “Let’s also go, so that we may die with Him!”

¹⁷So when Jesus came, He found that he had already been in the tomb four days.

¹⁸Now Bethany was near Jerusalem, about fifteen stadia away;

¹⁹and many of the Jews had come to Martha and Mary, to console them about their brother.

²⁰So then Martha, when she heard that Jesus was coming, went to meet Him, but Mary stayed in the house.

²¹Martha then said to Jesus, “Lord, if You had been here, my brother would not have died.

²²Even now I know that whatever You ask of God, God will give You.”

²³Jesus *said to her, “Your brother will rise from the dead.”

²⁴Martha *said to Him, “I know that he will rise in the resurrection on the last day.”

²⁵Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life; the one who believes in Me will live, even if he dies,

²⁶and everyone who lives and believes in Me will never die. Do you believe this?”

²⁷She *said to Him, “Yes, Lord; I have come to believe that You are the Christ, the Son of God, and He who comes into the world.”

²⁸When she had said this, she left and called Mary her sister, saying secretly, “The Teacher is here and is calling for you.”

²⁹And when she heard this, she *got up quickly and came to Him.

³⁰Now Jesus had not yet come into the village, but was still at the place where Martha met Him.

³¹Then the Jews who were with her in the house and were consoling her, when they saw that Mary had gotten up quickly and left, they followed her, thinking that she was going to the tomb to weep there.

³²So when Mary came to the place where Jesus was, she saw Him and fell at His feet, saying to Him, “Lord, if You had been here, my brother would not have died.”

³³Therefore when Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who came with her also weeping, He was deeply moved in spirit and was troubled,

³⁴and He said, “Where have you laid him?” They *said to Him, “Lord, come and see.”

³⁵Jesus wept.

³⁶So the Jews were saying, “See how He loved him!”

³⁷But some of them said, “Could this man, who opened the eyes of the man who was blind, not have also kept this man from dying?”

³⁸So Jesus, again being deeply moved within, *came to the tomb. Now it was a cave, and a stone was lying against it.

³⁹Jesus *said, “Remove the stone.” Martha, the sister of the deceased, *said to Him, “Lord, by this time there will be a stench, for he has been dead four days.”

⁴⁰Jesus *said to her, “Did I not say to you that if you believe, you will see the glory of God?”

⁴¹So they removed the stone. And Jesus raised His eyes, and said, “Father, I thank You that You have heard Me.

⁴²But I knew that You always hear Me; nevertheless, because of thepeople standing around I said it, so that they may believe that You sent Me.”

⁴³And when He had said these things, He cried out with a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out!”

⁴⁴Out came the man who had died, bound hand and foot with wrappings, and his face was wrapped around with a cloth. Jesus *said to them, “Unbind him, and let him go.”

⁴⁵Therefore many of the Jews who came to Mary, and saw what He had done, believed in Him.

⁴⁶But some of them went to the Pharisees and told them the things which Jesus had done.

⁴⁷Therefore the chief priests and the Pharisees convened a council meeting, and they were saying, “What are we doing in regard to the fact that this man is performing many signs?

⁴⁸If we let Him go on like this, all the people will believe in Him, and the Romans will come and take over both our place and our nation.”

⁴⁹But one of them, Caiaphas, who was high priest that year, said to them, “You know nothing at all,

⁵⁰nor are you taking into account that it is in your best interest that one man die for the people, and that the whole nation not perish instead.”

⁵¹Now he did not say this on his own, but as he was high priest that year, he prophesied that Jesus was going to die for the nation;

⁵²and not for the nation only, but in order that He might also gather together into one the children of God who are scattered abroad.

⁵³So from that day on they planned together to kill Him.

⁵⁴Therefore Jesus no longer continued to walk publicly among the Jews, but went away from there to the region near the wilderness, into a city called Ephraim; and there He stayed with the disciples.

⁵⁵Now the Passover of the Jews was near, and many went up to Jerusalem from the country prior to the Passover, in order to purify themselves.

⁵⁶So they were looking for Jesus, and saying to one another as they stood in the temple area, “What do you think; that He will not come to the feast at all?”

⁵⁷Now the chief priests and the Pharisees had given orders that if anyone knew where He was, he was to report it, so that they might arrest Him.

¹“At the end of every seven years you shall grant a release of debts.

²And this is the regulation for the release of debts: every creditor is to forgive what he has loaned to his neighbor; he shall not require it of his neighbor and his brother, because the LORD’S release has been proclaimed.

³From a foreigner you may require it, but your hand shall forgive whatever of yours is with your brother.

⁴However, there will be no poor among you, since the LORD will certainly bless you in the land which the LORD your God is giving you as an inheritance to possess,

⁵if only you listen obediently to the voice of the LORD your God, to follow carefully all this commandment which I am commanding you today.

⁶For the LORD your God will have blessed you just as He has promised you, and you will lend to many nations, but you will not borrow; and you will rule over many nations, but they will not rule over you.

⁷“If there is a poor person among you, one of your brothers, in any of your towns in your land which the LORD your God is giving you, you shall not harden your heart, nor close your hand from your poor brother;

⁸but you shall fully open your hand to him, and generously lend him enough for his need in whatever he lacks.

⁹Be careful that there is no mean-spirited thought in your heart, such as, ‘The seventh year, the year of release of debts, is near,’ and your eye is malicious toward your poor brother, and you give him nothing; then he may cry out to the LORD against you, and it will be a sin in you.

¹⁰You shall generously give to him, and your heart shall not be grudging when you give to him, because for this thing the LORD your God will bless you in all your work, and in all your undertakings.

¹¹For the poor will not cease to exist in the land; therefore I am commanding you, saying, ‘You shall fully open your hand to your brother, to your needy and poor in your land.’

¹²“If your fellow countryman, a Hebrew man or woman, is sold to you, then he shall serve you for six years, but in the seventh year you shall set him free.

¹³And when you set him free, you shall not send him away empty-handed.

¹⁴You shall give generously to him from your flock, your threshing floor, and from your wine vat; you shall give to him as the LORD your God has blessed you.

¹⁵And you are to remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt, and the LORD your God redeemed you; therefore I am commanding this of you today.

¹⁶But it shall come about, if he says to you, ‘I will not leave you,’ because he loves you and your household, since he is doing well with you,

¹⁷then you shall take an awl and pierce it through his ear into the door, and he shall be your servant permanently. You shall also do the same to your female slave.

¹⁸“It shall not seem difficult for you when you set him free, because he has given you six years with double the service of a hired worker; so the LORD your God will bless you in whatever you do.

¹⁹“You shall consecrate to the LORD your God all the firstborn males that are born in your herd and in your flock; you shall not work with the firstborn of your herd, nor shear the firstborn of your flock.

²⁰You and your household shall eat it every year before the LORD your God in the place which the LORD chooses.

²¹But if it has any impairment, such as a limp, or blindness, or any serious impairment, you shall not sacrifice it to the LORD your God.

²²You shall eat it within your gates; the unclean and the clean alike may eat it, as a gazelle or a deer.

²³Only you shall not eat its blood; you are to pour it out on the ground like water.

¹Therefore I urge you, brothers and sisters, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship.

²And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect.

³For through the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think more highly of himself than he ought to think; but to think so as to have sound judgment, as God has allotted to each a measure of faith.

⁴For just as we have many parts in one body and all the body’s parts do not have the same function,

⁵so we, who are many, are one body in Christ, and individually parts of one another.

⁶However, since we have gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, each of us is to use them properly: if prophecy, in proportion to one’s faith;

⁷if service, in the act of serving; or the one who teaches, in the act of teaching;

⁸or the one who exhorts, in the work of exhortation; the one who gives, with generosity; the one who is in leadership, with diligence; the one who shows mercy, with cheerfulness.

⁹Love must be free of hypocrisy. Detest what is evil; cling to what is good.

¹⁰Be devoted to one another in brotherly love; give preference to one another in honor,

¹¹not lagging behind in diligence, fervent in spirit, serving the Lord;

¹²rejoicing in hope, persevering in tribulation, devoted to prayer,

¹³contributing to the needs of the saints, practicing hospitality.

¹⁴Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse.

¹⁵Rejoice with those who rejoice, and weep with those who weep.

¹⁶Be of the same mind toward one another; do not be haughty in mind, but associate with the lowly. Do not be wise in your own estimation.

¹⁷Never repay evil for evil to anyone. Respect what is right in the sight of all people.

¹⁸If possible, so far as it depends on you, be at peace with all people.

¹⁹Never take your own revenge, beloved, but leave room for the wrath of God, for it is written: “VENGEANCE IS MINE, I WILL REPAY,” says the Lord.

²⁰“BUT IF YOUR ENEMY IS HUNGRY, FEED HIM; IF HE IS THIRSTY, GIVE HIM A DRINK; FOR IN SO DOING YOU WILL HEAP BURNING COALS ON HIS HEAD.”

²¹Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.

¹See how great a love the Father has given us, that we would be called children of God; and in fact we are. For this reason the world does not know us: because it did not know Him.

²Beloved, now we are children of God, and it has not appeared as yet what we will be. We know that when He appears, we will be like Him, because we will see Him just as He is.

³And everyone who has this hope set on Him purifies himself, just as He is pure.

⁴Everyone who practices sin also practices lawlessness; and sin is lawlessness.

⁵You know that He appeared in order to take away sins; and in Him there is no sin.

⁶No one who remains in Him sins continually; no one who sins continually has seen Him or knows Him.

⁷Little children, make sure no one deceives you; the one who practices righteousness is righteous, just as He is righteous;

⁸the one who practices sin is of the devil; for the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The Son of God appeared for this purpose, to destroy the works of the devil.

⁹No one who has been born of God practices sin, because His seed remains in him; and he cannot sin continually, because he has been born of God.

¹⁰By this the children of God and the children of the devil are obvious: anyone who does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor the one who does not love his brother and sister.

¹¹For this is the message which you have heard from the beginning, that we are to love one another;

¹²not as Cain, who was of the evil one and murdered his brother. And for what reason did he murder him? Because his own deeds were evil, but his brother’s were righteous.

¹³Do not be surprised, brothers and sisters, if the world hates you.

¹⁴We know that we have passed out of death into life, because we love the brothers and sisters. The one who does not love remains in death.

¹⁵Everyone who hates his brother or sister is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life remaining in him.

¹⁶We know love by this, that He laid down His life for us; and we ought to lay down our lives for the brothers and sisters.

¹⁷But whoever has worldly goods and sees his brother or sister in need, and closes his heart against him, how does the love of God remain in him?

¹⁸Little children, let’s not love with word or with tongue, but in deed and truth.

¹⁹We will know by this that we are of the truth, and will set our heart at ease before Him,

²⁰that if our heart condemns us, that God is greater than our heart, and He knows all things.

²¹Beloved, if our heart does not condemn us, we have confidence before God;

²²and whatever we ask, we receive from Him, because we keep His commandments and do the things that are pleasing in His sight.

²³This is His commandment, that we believe in the name of His Son Jesus Christ, and love one another, just as He commanded us.

²⁴The one who keeps His commandments remains in Him, and He in him. We know by this that He remains in us, by the Spirit whom He has given us.

¹I said to myself, “Come now, I will test you with pleasure. So enjoy yourself.” And behold, it too was futility.

²I said of laughter, “It is senseless,” and of pleasure, “What does this accomplish?”

³I explored with my mind how to refresh my body with wine while my mind was guiding me wisely; and how to seize foolishness, until I could see what good there is for the sons of mankind to do under heaven for the few years of their lives.

⁴I enlarged my works: I built houses for myself, I planted vineyards for myself;

⁵I made gardens and parks for myself, and I planted in them all kinds of fruit trees;

⁶I made ponds of water for myself from which to irrigate a forest of growing trees.

⁷I bought male and female slaves, and I had slaves born at home. I also possessed flocks and herds larger than all who preceded me in Jerusalem.

⁸I also amassed for myself silver and gold, and the treasure of kings and provinces. I provided for myself male and female singers, and the pleasures of the sons of mankind: many concubines.

⁹Then I became great and increased more than all who preceded me in Jerusalem. My wisdom also stood by me.

¹⁰All that my eyes desired, I did not refuse them. I did not restrain my heart from any pleasure, for my heart was pleased because of all my labor; and this was my reward for all my labor.

¹¹So I considered all my activities which my hands had done and the labor which I had exerted, and behold, all was futility and striving after wind, and there was no benefit under the sun.

¹²So I turned to consider wisdom, insanity, and foolishness; for what will the man do who will come after the king, except what has already been done?

¹³Then I saw that wisdom surpasses foolishness as light surpasses darkness.

¹⁴The wise person’s eyes are in his head, but the fool walks in darkness. And yet I know that one and the same fate happens to both of them.

¹⁵Then I said to myself, “As is the fate of the fool, it will also happen to me. Why then have I been extremely wise?” So I said to myself, “This too is futility.”

¹⁶For there is no lasting remembrance of the wise, along with the fool, since in the coming days everything will soon be forgotten. And how the wise and the fool alike die!

¹⁷So I hated life, for the work which had been done under the sun was unhappy to me; because everything is futility and striving after wind.

¹⁸So I hated all the fruit of my labor for which I had labored under the sun, because I must leave it to the man who will come after me.

¹⁹And who knows whether he will be wise or a fool? Yet he will have control over all the fruit of my labor for which I have labored by acting wisely under the sun. This too is futility.

²⁰Therefore I completely despaired over all the fruit of my labor for which I had labored under the sun.

²¹When there is a person who has labored with wisdom, knowledge, and skill, and then gives his legacy to one who has not labored for it; this too is futility and a great evil.

²²For what does a person get in all his labor and in his striving with which he labors under the sun?

²³Because all his days his activity is painful and irritating; even at night his mind does not rest. This too is futility.

²⁴There is nothing better for a person than to eat and drink, and show himself some good in his trouble. This too I have seen, that it is from the hand of God.

²⁵For who can eat and who can have enjoyment without Him?

²⁶For to a person who is good in His sight, He has given wisdom and knowledge and joy, while to the sinner He has given the task of gathering and collecting so that he may give to one who is good in God’s sight. This too is futility and striving after wind.

¹“I love You, LORD, my strength.”

²The LORD is my rock and my fortress and my savior, My God, my rock, in whom I take refuge; My shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.

³I call upon the LORD, who is worthy to be praised, And I am saved from my enemies.

⁴The ropes of death encompassed me, And the torrents of destruction terrified me.

⁵The ropes of Sheol surrounded me; The snares of death confronted me.

⁶In my distress I called upon the LORD, And cried to my God for help; He heard my voice from His temple, And my cry for help before Him came into His ears.

⁷Then the earth shook and quaked; And the foundations of the mountains were trembling And were shaken, because He was angry.

⁸Smoke went up out of His nostrils, And fire from His mouth was devouring; Coals burned from it.

⁹He also bowed the heavens down low, and came down With thick darkness under His feet.

¹⁰He rode on a cherub and flew; And He sped on the wings of the wind.

¹¹He made darkness His hiding place, His canopy around Him, Darkness of waters, thick clouds.

¹²From the brightness before Him passed His thick clouds, Hailstones and coals of fire.

¹³The LORD also thundered in the heavens, And the Most High uttered His voice, Hailstones and coals of fire.

¹⁴He sent out His arrows, and scattered them, And lightning flashes in abundance, and routed them.

¹⁵Then the channels of water appeared, And the foundations of the world were exposed By Your rebuke, LORD, At the blast of the breath of Your nostrils.

¹⁶He sent from on high, He took me; He drew me out of many waters.

¹⁷He saved me from my strong enemy, And from those who hated me, for they were too mighty for me.

¹⁸They confronted me in the day of my disaster, But the LORD was my support.

¹⁹He also brought me out into an open place; He rescued me, because He delighted in me.

²⁰The LORD has rewarded me according to my righteousness; According to the cleanness of my hands He has repaid me.

²¹For I have kept the ways of the LORD, And have not acted wickedly against my God.

²²For all His judgments were before me, And I did not put away His statutes from me.

²³I was also blameless with Him, And I kept myself from my wrongdoing.

²⁴Therefore the LORD has repaid me according to my righteousness, According to the cleanness of my hands in His eyes.

²⁵With the faithful You show Yourself faithful; With the blameless You prove Yourself blameless;

²⁶With the pure You show Yourself pure, And with the crooked You show Yourself astute.

²⁷For You save an afflicted people, But You humiliate haughty eyes.

²⁸For You light my lamp; The LORD my God illumines my darkness.

²⁹For by You I can run at a troop of warriors; And by my God I can leap over a wall.

³⁰As for God, His way is blameless; The word of the LORD is refined; He is a shield to all who take refuge in Him.

³¹For who is God, but the LORD? And who is a rock, except our God,

³²The God who encircles me with strength, And makes my way blameless?

³³He makes my feet like deer’s feet, And sets me up on my high places.

³⁴He trains my hands for battle, So that my arms can bend a bow of bronze.

³⁵You have also given me the shield of Your salvation, And Your right hand upholds me; And Your gentleness makes me great.

³⁶You enlarge my steps under me, And my feet have not slipped.

³⁷I pursued my enemies and overtook them, And I did not turn back until they were consumed.

³⁸I shattered them, so that they were not able to rise; They fell under my feet.

³⁹For You have encircled me with strength for battle; You have forced those who rose up against me to bow down under me.

⁴⁰You have also made my enemies turn their backs to me, And I destroyed those who hated me.

⁴¹They cried for help, but there was no one to save, They cried to the LORD, but He did not answer them.

⁴²Then I beat them fine like the dust before the wind; I emptied them out like the mud of the streets.

⁴³You have rescued me from the contentions of the people; You have placed me as head of the nations; A people whom I have not known serve me.

⁴⁴As soon as they hear, they obey me; Foreigners pretend to obey me.

⁴⁵Foreigners lose heart, And come trembling out of their fortresses.

⁴⁶The LORD lives, and blessed be my rock; And exalted be the God of my salvation,

⁴⁷The God who executes vengeance for me, And subdues peoples under me.

⁴⁸He rescues me from my enemies; You indeed lift me above those who rise up against me; You rescue me from a violent man.

⁴⁹Therefore I will give thanks to You among the nations, LORD, And I will sing praises to Your name.

⁵⁰He gives great salvation to His king, And shows faithfulness to His anointed, To David and his descendants forever.

¹A wise son accepts his father’s discipline, But a scoffer does not listen to rebuke.

²From the fruit of a person’s mouth he enjoys good, But the desire of the treacherous is violence.

³One who guards his mouth protects his life; One who opens wide his lips comes to ruin.

⁴The soul of the lazy one craves and gets nothing, But the soul of the diligent is made prosperous.

⁵A righteous person hates a false statement, But a wicked person acts disgustingly and shamefully.

⁶Righteousness guards the one whose way is blameless, But wickedness brings the sinner to ruin.

⁷There is one who pretends to be rich but has nothing; Another pretends to be poor, but has great wealth.

⁸The ransom of a person’s life is his wealth, But the poor hears no rebuke.

⁹The light of the righteous rejoices, But the lamp of the wicked goes out.

¹⁰Through overconfidence comes nothing but strife, But wisdom is with those who receive counsel.

¹¹Wealth obtained from nothing dwindles, But one who gathers by labor increases it.

¹²Hope deferred makes the heart sick, But desire fulfilled is a tree of life.

¹³One who despises the word will do badly, But one who fears the commandment will be rewarded.

¹⁴The teaching of the wise is a fountain of life, To turn aside from the snares of death.

¹⁵Good understanding produces favor, But the way of the treacherous is their own disaster.

¹⁶Every prudent person acts with knowledge, But a fool displays foolishness.

¹⁷A wicked messenger falls into adversity, But a faithful messenger brings healing.

¹⁸Poverty and shame will come to one who neglects discipline, But one who complies with rebuke will be honored.

¹⁹Desire realized is sweet to the soul, But it is an abomination to fools to turn away from evil.

²⁰One who walks with wise people will be wise, But a companion of fools will suffer harm.

²¹Adversity pursues sinners, But the righteous will be rewarded with prosperity.

²²A good person leaves an inheritance to his grandchildren, And the wealth of a sinner is stored up for the righteous.

²³Abundant food is in the uncultivated ground of the poor, But it is swept away by injustice.

²⁴He who withholds his rod hates his son, But he who loves him disciplines him diligently.

²⁵The righteous has enough to satisfy his appetite, But the stomach of the wicked is in need.

¹And it came about, when David lived in his house, that David said to Nathan the prophet, “Look, I am living in a house of cedar, but the ark of the covenant of the LORD is under tent curtains.”

²Then Nathan said to David, “Do whatever is in your heart, for God is with you.”

³But it happened that same night, that the word of God came to Nathan, saying,

⁴“Go and tell David My servant, ‘This is what the LORD says: “You shall not build a house for Me to dwell in;

⁵for I have not dwelt in a house since the day that I brought up Israel to this day, but I have gone from tent to tent and from one dwelling place to another.

⁶In all places where I have walked with all Israel, have I spoken a word with any of the judges of Israel, whom I commanded to shepherd My people, saying, ‘Why have you not built Me a house of cedar?’ ” ’

⁷Now, therefore, this is what you shall say to My servant David: ‘This is what the LORD of armies says: “I took you from the pasture, from following the sheep, to be leader over My people Israel.

⁸I have been with you wherever you have gone, and have eliminated all your enemies from you; and I will make for you a name like the name of the great ones who are on the earth.

⁹And I will appoint a place for My people Israel, and will plant them there, so that they may live in their own place and not tremble with anxiety again; and the wicked will not make them waste away anymore as they did previously,

¹⁰even from the day that I commanded judges to be over My people Israel. And I will subdue all your enemies. Moreover, I tell you that the LORD will build a house for you.

¹¹When your days are fulfilled that you must go to be with your fathers, then I will set up one of your descendants after you, who will be from your sons; and I will establish his kingdom.

¹²He shall build for Me a house, and I will establish his throne forever.

¹³I will be his father and he shall be My son; and I will not take My favor away from him, as I took it from him who was before you.

¹⁴But I will settle him in My house and in My kingdom forever, and his throne will be established forever.” ’ ”

¹⁵According to all these words and according to all of this vision, so Nathan spoke to David.

¹⁶Then King David came in and sat before the LORD, and said, “Who am I, LORD God, and what is my house that You have brought me this far?

¹⁷This was a small thing in Your eyes, God; but You have spoken of Your servant’s house for a great while to come, and have viewed me according to the standard of a person of high degree, LORD God.

¹⁸What more can David still say to You concerning the honor bestowed on Your servant? For You know Your servant.

¹⁹LORD, for Your servant’s sake, and according to Your own heart, You have accomplished all this greatness, to make known all these great things.

²⁰LORD, there is none like You, nor is there any God besides You, according to everything that we have heard with our ears.

²¹And what one nation on the earth is like Your people Israel, whom God went to redeem for Himself as a people, to make for You a name by great and awesome things, by driving out nations from before Your people, whom You redeemed from Egypt?

²²For You have made Your people Israel Your own people forever, and You, LORD, became their God.

²³“Now, LORD, let the word that You have spoken concerning Your servant and concerning his house be established forever, and do just as You have spoken.

²⁴Let Your name be established and be great forever, saying, ‘The LORD of armies is the God of Israel, a God to Israel; and the house of Your servant David is established before You.’

²⁵For You, my God, have revealed to Your servant that You will build him a house; therefore Your servant has found courage to pray before You.

²⁶Now, LORD, You are God, and have promised this good thing to Your servant.

²⁷And now You have decided to bless the house of Your servant, that it may continue forever before You; for You, LORD, have blessed, and it is blessed forever.”

¹“Now when you divide the land by lot for inheritance, you shall offer an allotment to the LORD, a holy portion of the land; the length shall be a length of twenty-five thousand cubits, and the width shall be twenty thousand. It shall be holy within its entire surrounding boundary.

²Out of this there shall be for the sanctuary a square encompassing five hundred by five hundred cubits, and fifty cubits for its open space round about.

³From this area you shall measure a length of twenty-five thousand cubits and a width of ten thousand cubits; and in it shall be the sanctuary, the Most Holy Place.

⁴It shall be the holy portion of the land; it shall be for the priests, the ministers of the sanctuary, who come near to serve the LORD, and it shall be a place for their houses and a holy place for the sanctuary.

⁵An area twenty-five thousand cubits in length and ten thousand in width shall be for the Levites, the ministers of the house, and for their possession cities in which to live.

⁶“And you shall give the city possession of an area five thousand cubits wide and twenty-five thousand cubits long, alongside the allotment of the holy portion; it shall be for the entire house of Israel.

⁷“And the prince shall have land on either side of the holy allotment and the property of the city, adjacent to the holy allotment and the property of the city, on the west side toward the west and on the east side toward the east, and in length comparable to one of the portions, from the west border to the east border.

⁸This shall be his land as a possession in Israel; so My princes shall no longer oppress My people, but they shall give the rest of the land to the house of Israel according to their tribes.”

⁹‘This is what the Lord GOD says: “Enough, you princes of Israel; get rid of violence and destruction, and practice justice and righteousness. Revoke your evictions of My people,” declares the Lord GOD.

¹⁰“You shall have accurate balances, an accurate ephah, and an accurate bath.

¹¹The ephah and the bath shall be the same quantity, so that the bath will contain a tenth of a homer, and the ephah a tenth of a homer; their standard shall be according to the homer.

¹²And the shekel shall be twenty gerahs; twenty shekels, twenty-five shekels, and fifteen shekels shall be your mina.

¹³“This is the offering that you shall offer: a sixth of an ephah from each homer of wheat; a sixth of an ephah from each homer of barley;

¹⁴and the prescribed portion of oil (namely, the bath of oil), a tenth of a bath from each kor (which is ten baths or a homer, for ten baths are a homer);

¹⁵and one sheep from each flock of two hundred from the watering places of Israel—for a grain offering, for a burnt offering, and for peace offerings, to make atonement for them,” declares the Lord GOD.

¹⁶“All the people of the land shall give to this offering for the prince in Israel.

¹⁷And it shall be the prince’s part to provide the burnt offerings, the grain offerings, and the drink offerings, at the feasts, on the new moons, and on the Sabbaths, at all the appointed feasts of the house of Israel; he shall provide the sin offering, the grain offering, the burnt offering, and the peace offerings, to make atonement for the house of Israel.”

¹⁸‘This is what the Lord GOD says: “In the first month, on the first of the month, you shall take a bull without blemish and cleanse the sanctuary from sin.

¹⁹And the priest shall take some of the blood from the sin offering and put it on the door posts of the house, on the four corners of the ledge of the altar, and on the posts of the gate of the inner courtyard.

²⁰And you shall do this on the seventh day of the month for everyone who does wrong inadvertently or is naive; so you shall make atonement for the house.

²¹“In the first month, on the fourteenth day of the month, you shall have the Passover, a feast of seven days; unleavened bread shall be eaten.

²²On that day the prince shall provide for himself and all the people of the land a bull as a sin offering.

²³And during the seven days of the feast he shall provide as a burnt offering to the LORD seven bulls and seven rams without blemish on every day of the seven days, and a male goat daily as a sin offering.

²⁴And he shall provide as a grain offering an ephah with a bull, an ephah with a ram, and a hin of oil with an ephah.

²⁵In the seventh month, on the fifteenth day of the month, at the feast, he shall provide like these, seven days for the sin offering, the burnt offering, the grain offering, and the oil.”

¹When they had been brought safely through, then we found out that the island was called Malta.

²The natives showed us extraordinary kindness, for they kindled a fire and took us all in because of the rain that had started and because of the cold.

³But when Paul had gathered a bundle of sticks and laid them on the fire, a viper came out because of the heat and fastened itself on his hand.

⁴When the natives saw the creature hanging from his hand, they began saying to one another, “Undoubtedly this man is a murderer, and though he has been saved from the sea, justice has not allowed him to live.”

⁵However, Paul shook the creature off into the fire and suffered no harm.

⁶Now they were expecting that he was going to swell up or suddenly fall down dead. But after they had waited a long time and had seen nothing unusual happen to him, they changed their minds and began to say that he was a god.

⁷Now in the neighboring parts of that place were lands belonging to the leading man of the island, named Publius, who welcomed us and entertained us warmly for three days.

⁸And it happened that the father of Publius was lying in bed afflicted with a recurring fever and dysentery. Paul went in to see him, and after he prayed, he laid his hands on him and healed him.

⁹After this happened, the rest of the people on the island who had diseases were coming to him and being cured.

¹⁰They also showed us many honors, and when we were about to set sail, they supplied us with everything we needed.

¹¹After three months we set sail on an Alexandrian ship which had wintered at the island, and which had the Twin Brothers for its figurehead.

¹²After we put in at Syracuse, we stayed there for three days.

¹³From there we sailed around and arrived at Rhegium, and a day later a south wind came up, and on the second day we came to Puteoli.

¹⁴There we found some brothers and sisters, and were invited to stay with them for seven days; and that is how we came to Rome.

¹⁵And from there the brothers and sisters, when they heard about us, came as far as the Market of Appius and the Three Inns to meet us; and when Paul saw them, he thanked God and took courage.

¹⁶When we entered Rome, Paul was allowed to stay by himself, with the soldier who was guarding him.

¹⁷After three days Paul called together those who were the leading men of the Jews, and when they came together, he began saying to them, “Brothers, though I had done nothing against our people or the customs of our fathers, yet I was handed over to the Romans as a prisoner from Jerusalem.

¹⁸And when they had examined me, they were willing to release me because there were no grounds for putting me to death.

¹⁹But when the Jews objected, I was forced to appeal to Caesar, not that I had any accusation against my nation.

²⁰For this reason, therefore, I requested to see you and to speak with you, since I am wearing this chain for the sake of the hope of Israel.”

²¹They said to him, “We have neither received letters from Judea concerning you, nor has any of the brothers come here and reported or spoken anything bad about you.

²²But we desire to hear from you what your views are; for regarding this sect, it is known to us that it is spoken against everywhere.”

²³When they had set a day for Paul, people came to him at his lodging in large numbers; and he was explaining to them by solemnly testifying about the kingdom of God and trying to persuade them concerning Jesus, from both the Law of Moses and from the Prophets, from morning until evening.

²⁴Some were being persuaded by the things said by Paul, but others would not believe.

²⁵And when they disagreed with one another, they began leaving after Paul said one parting statement: “The Holy Spirit rightly spoke through Isaiah the prophet to your fathers,

²⁶saying, ‘GO TO THIS PEOPLE AND SAY, “YOU WILL KEEP ON HEARING, AND WILL NOT UNDERSTAND; AND YOU WILL KEEP ON SEEING, AND WILL NOT PERCEIVE;

²⁷FOR THE HEARTS OF THIS PEOPLE HAVE BECOME INSENSITIVE, AND WITH THEIR EARS THEY HARDLY HEAR, AND THEY HAVE CLOSED THEIR EYES; OTHERWISE THEY MIGHT SEE WITH THEIR EYES, AND HEAR WITH THEIR EARS, AND UNDERSTAND WITH THEIR HEART AND RETURN, AND I WOULD HEAL THEM.” ’

²⁸Therefore, let it be known to you that this salvation of God has been sent to the Gentiles; they will also listen.”

²⁹

³⁰Now Paul stayed two full years in his own rented lodging and welcomed all who came to him,

³¹preaching the kingdom of God and teaching things about the Lord Jesus Christ with all openness, unhindered.