Professor Horner’s Reading Plan

¹A man named Lazarus was sick. He lived in Bethany with his sisters, Mary and Martha.

²This is the Mary who later poured the expensive perfume on the Lord’s feet and wiped them with her hair. Her brother, Lazarus, was sick.

³So the two sisters sent a message to Jesus telling him, “Lord, your dear friend is very sick.”

⁴But when Jesus heard about it he said, “Lazarus’s sickness will not end in death. No, it happened for the glory of God so that the Son of God will receive glory from this.”

⁵So although Jesus loved Martha, Mary, and Lazarus,

⁶he stayed where he was for the next two days.

⁷Finally, he said to his disciples, “Let’s go back to Judea.”

⁸But his disciples objected. “Rabbi,” they said, “only a few days ago the people in Judea were trying to stone you. Are you going there again?”

⁹Jesus replied, “There are twelve hours of daylight every day. During the day people can walk safely. They can see because they have the light of this world.

¹⁰But at night there is danger of stumbling because they have no light.”

¹¹Then he said, “Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep, but now I will go and wake him up.”

¹²The disciples said, “Lord, if he is sleeping, he will soon get better!”

¹³They thought Jesus meant Lazarus was simply sleeping, but Jesus meant Lazarus had died.

¹⁴So he told them plainly, “Lazarus is dead.

¹⁵And for your sakes, I’m glad I wasn’t there, for now you will really believe. Come, let’s go see him.”

¹⁶Thomas, nicknamed the Twin, said to his fellow disciples, “Let’s go, too — and die with Jesus.”

¹⁷When Jesus arrived at Bethany, he was told that Lazarus had already been in his grave for four days.

¹⁸Bethany was only a few miles down the road from Jerusalem,

¹⁹and many of the people had come to console Martha and Mary in their loss.

²⁰When Martha got word that Jesus was coming, she went to meet him. But Mary stayed in the house.

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

²²But even now I know that God will give you whatever you ask.”

²³Jesus told her, “Your brother will rise again.”

²⁴“Yes,” Martha said, “he will rise when everyone else rises, at the last day.”

²⁵Jesus told her, “I am the resurrection and the life. Anyone who believes in me will live, even after dying.

²⁶Everyone who lives in me and believes in me will never ever die. Do you believe this, Martha?”

²⁷“Yes, Lord,” she told him. “I have always believed you are the Messiah, the Son of God, the one who has come into the world from God.”

²⁸Then she returned to Mary. She called Mary aside from the mourners and told her, “The Teacher is here and wants to see you.”

²⁹So Mary immediately went to him.

³⁰Jesus had stayed outside the village, at the place where Martha met him.

³¹When the people who were at the house consoling Mary saw her leave so hastily, they assumed she was going to Lazarus’s grave to weep. So they followed her there.

³²When Mary arrived and saw Jesus, she fell at his feet and said, “Lord, if only you had been here, my brother would not have died.”

³³When Jesus saw her weeping and saw the other people wailing with her, a deep anger welled up within him, and he was deeply troubled.

³⁴“Where have you put him?” he asked them. They told him, “Lord, come and see.”

³⁵Then Jesus wept.

³⁶The people who were standing nearby said, “See how much he loved him!”

³⁷But some said, “This man healed a blind man. Couldn’t he have kept Lazarus from dying?”

³⁸Jesus was still angry as he arrived at the tomb, a cave with a stone rolled across its entrance.

³⁹“Roll the stone aside,” Jesus told them. But Martha, the dead man’s sister, protested, “Lord, he has been dead for four days. The smell will be terrible.”

⁴⁰Jesus responded, “Didn’t I tell you that you would see God’s glory if you believe?”

⁴¹So they rolled the stone aside. Then Jesus looked up to heaven and said, “Father, thank you for hearing me.

⁴²You always hear me, but I said it out loud for the sake of all these people standing here, so that they will believe you sent me.”

⁴³Then Jesus shouted, “Lazarus, come out!”

⁴⁴And the dead man came out, his hands and feet bound in graveclothes, his face wrapped in a headcloth. Jesus told them, “Unwrap him and let him go!”

⁴⁵Many of the people who were with Mary believed in Jesus when they saw this happen.

⁴⁶But some went to the Pharisees and told them what Jesus had done.

⁴⁷Then the leading priests and Pharisees called the high council together. “What are we going to do?” they asked each other. “This man certainly performs many miraculous signs.

⁴⁸If we allow him to go on like this, soon everyone will believe in him. Then the Roman army will come and destroy both our Temple and our nation.”

⁴⁹Caiaphas, who was high priest at that time, said, “You don’t know what you’re talking about!

⁵⁰You don’t realize that it’s better for you that one man should die for the people than for the whole nation to be destroyed.”

⁵¹He did not say this on his own; as high priest at that time he was led to prophesy that Jesus would die for the entire nation.

⁵²And not only for that nation, but to bring together and unite all the children of God scattered around the world.

⁵³So from that time on, the Jewish leaders began to plot Jesus’ death.

⁵⁴As a result, Jesus stopped his public ministry among the people and left Jerusalem. He went to a place near the wilderness, to the village of Ephraim, and stayed there with his disciples.

⁵⁵It was now almost time for the Jewish Passover celebration, and many people from all over the country arrived in Jerusalem several days early so they could go through the purification ceremony before Passover began.

⁵⁶They kept looking for Jesus, but as they stood around in the Temple, they said to each other, “What do you think? He won’t come for Passover, will he?”

⁵⁷Meanwhile, the leading priests and Pharisees had publicly ordered that anyone seeing Jesus must report it immediately so they could arrest him.

¹“At the end of every seventh year you must cancel the debts of everyone who owes you money.

²This is how it must be done. Everyone must cancel the loans they have made to their fellow Israelites. They must not demand payment from their neighbors or relatives, for the LORD’s time of release has arrived.

³This release from debt, however, applies only to your fellow Israelites — not to the foreigners living among you.

⁴“There should be no poor among you, for the LORD your God will greatly bless you in the land he is giving you as a special possession.

⁵You will receive this blessing if you are careful to obey all the commands of the LORD your God that I am giving you today.

⁶The LORD your God will bless you as he has promised. You will lend money to many nations but will never need to borrow. You will rule many nations, but they will not rule over you.

⁷“But if there are any poor Israelites in your towns when you arrive in the land the LORD your God is giving you, do not be hard-hearted or tightfisted toward them.

⁸Instead, be generous and lend them whatever they need.

⁹Do not be mean-spirited and refuse someone a loan because the year for canceling debts is close at hand. If you refuse to make the loan and the needy person cries out to the LORD, you will be considered guilty of sin.

¹⁰Give generously to the poor, not grudgingly, for the LORD your God will bless you in everything you do.

¹¹There will always be some in the land who are poor. That is why I am commanding you to share freely with the poor and with other Israelites in need.

¹²“If a fellow Hebrew sells himself or herself to be your servant and serves you for six years, in the seventh year you must set that servant free.

¹³“When you release a male servant, do not send him away empty-handed.

¹⁴Give him a generous farewell gift from your flock, your threshing floor, and your winepress. Share with him some of the bounty with which the LORD your God has blessed you.

¹⁵Remember that you were once slaves in the land of Egypt and the LORD your God redeemed you! That is why I am giving you this command.

¹⁶“But suppose your servant says, ‘I will not leave you,’ because he loves you and your family, and he has done well with you.

¹⁷In that case, take an awl and push it through his earlobe into the door. After that, he will be your servant for life. And do the same for your female servants.

¹⁸“You must not consider it a hardship when you release your servants. Remember that for six years they have given you services worth double the wages of hired workers, and the LORD your God will bless you in all you do.

¹⁹“You must set aside for the LORD your God all the firstborn males from your flocks and herds. Do not use the firstborn of your herds to work your fields, and do not shear the firstborn of your flocks.

²⁰Instead, you and your family must eat these animals in the presence of the LORD your God each year at the place he chooses.

²¹But if this firstborn animal has any defect, such as lameness or blindness, or if anything else is wrong with it, you must not sacrifice it to the LORD your God.

²²Instead, use it for food for your family in your hometown. Anyone, whether ceremonially clean or unclean, may eat it, just as anyone may eat a gazelle or deer.

²³But you must not consume the blood. You must pour it out on the ground like water.

¹And so, dear brothers and sisters, I plead with you to give your bodies to God because of all he has done for you. Let them be a living and holy sacrifice — the kind he will find acceptable. This is truly the way to worship him.

²Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect.

³Because of the privilege and authority God has given me, I give each of you this warning: Don’t think you are better than you really are. Be honest in your evaluation of yourselves, measuring yourselves by the faith God has given us.

⁴Just as our bodies have many parts and each part has a special function,

⁵so it is with Christ’s body. We are many parts of one body, and we all belong to each other.

⁶In his grace, God has given us different gifts for doing certain things well. So if God has given you the ability to prophesy, speak out with as much faith as God has given you.

⁷If your gift is serving others, serve them well. If you are a teacher, teach well.

⁸If your gift is to encourage others, be encouraging. If it is giving, give generously. If God has given you leadership ability, take the responsibility seriously. And if you have a gift for showing kindness to others, do it gladly.

⁹Don’t just pretend to love others. Really love them. Hate what is wrong. Hold tightly to what is good.

¹⁰Love each other with genuine affection, and take delight in honoring each other.

¹¹Never be lazy, but work hard and serve the Lord enthusiastically.

¹²Rejoice in our confident hope. Be patient in trouble, and keep on praying.

¹³When God’s people are in need, be ready to help them. Always be eager to practice hospitality.

¹⁴Bless those who persecute you. Don’t curse them; pray that God will bless them.

¹⁵Be happy with those who are happy, and weep with those who weep.

¹⁶Live in harmony with each other. Don’t be too proud to enjoy the company of ordinary people. And don’t think you know it all!

¹⁷Never pay back evil with more evil. Do things in such a way that everyone can see you are honorable.

¹⁸Do all that you can to live in peace with everyone.

¹⁹Dear friends, never take revenge. Leave that to the righteous anger of God. For the Scriptures say, “I will take revenge; I will pay them back,” says the LORD.

²⁰Instead, “If your enemies are hungry, feed them. If they are thirsty, give them something to drink. In doing this, you will heap burning coals of shame on their heads.”

²¹Don’t let evil conquer you, but conquer evil by doing good.

¹See how very much our Father loves us, for he calls us his children, and that is what we are! But the people who belong to this world don’t recognize that we are God’s children because they don’t know him.

²Dear friends, we are already God’s children, but he has not yet shown us what we will be like when Christ appears. But we do know that we will be like him, for we will see him as he really is.

³And all who have this eager expectation will keep themselves pure, just as he is pure.

⁴Everyone who sins is breaking God’s law, for all sin is contrary to the law of God.

⁵And you know that Jesus came to take away our sins, and there is no sin in him.

⁶Anyone who continues to live in him will not sin. But anyone who keeps on sinning does not know him or understand who he is.

⁷Dear children, don’t let anyone deceive you about this: When people do what is right, it shows that they are righteous, even as Christ is righteous.

⁸But when people keep on sinning, it shows that they belong to the devil, who has been sinning since the beginning. But the Son of God came to destroy the works of the devil.

⁹Those who have been born into God’s family do not make a practice of sinning, because God’s life is in them. So they can’t keep on sinning, because they are children of God.

¹⁰So now we can tell who are children of God and who are children of the devil. Anyone who does not live righteously and does not love other believers does not belong to God.

¹¹This is the message you have heard from the beginning: We should love one another.

¹²We must not be like Cain, who belonged to the evil one and killed his brother. And why did he kill him? Because Cain had been doing what was evil, and his brother had been doing what was righteous.

¹³So don’t be surprised, dear brothers and sisters, if the world hates you.

¹⁴If we love our brothers and sisters who are believers, it proves that we have passed from death to life. But a person who has no love is still dead.

¹⁵Anyone who hates another brother or sister is really a murderer at heart. And you know that murderers don’t have eternal life within them.

¹⁶We know what real love is because Jesus gave up his life for us. So we also ought to give up our lives for our brothers and sisters.

¹⁷If someone has enough money to live well and sees a brother or sister in need but shows no compassion — how can God’s love be in that person?

¹⁸Dear children, let’s not merely say that we love each other; let us show the truth by our actions.

¹⁹Our actions will show that we belong to the truth, so we will be confident when we stand before God.

²⁰Even if we feel guilty, God is greater than our feelings, and he knows everything.

²¹Dear friends, if we don’t feel guilty, we can come to God with bold confidence.

²²And we will receive from him whatever we ask because we obey him and do the things that please him.

²³And this is his commandment: We must believe in the name of his Son, Jesus Christ, and love one another, just as he commanded us.

²⁴Those who obey God’s commandments remain in fellowship with him, and he with them. And we know he lives in us because the Spirit he gave us lives in us.

¹I said to myself, “Come on, let’s try pleasure. Let’s look for the ‘good things’ in life.” But I found that this, too, was meaningless.

²So I said, “Laughter is silly. What good does it do to seek pleasure?”

³After much thought, I decided to cheer myself with wine. And while still seeking wisdom, I clutched at foolishness. In this way, I tried to experience the only happiness most people find during their brief life in this world.

⁴I also tried to find meaning by building huge homes for myself and by planting beautiful vineyards.

⁵I made gardens and parks, filling them with all kinds of fruit trees.

⁶I built reservoirs to collect the water to irrigate my many flourishing groves.

⁷I bought slaves, both men and women, and others were born into my household. I also owned large herds and flocks, more than any of the kings who had lived in Jerusalem before me.

⁸I collected great sums of silver and gold, the treasure of many kings and provinces. I hired wonderful singers, both men and women, and had many beautiful concubines. I had everything a man could desire!

⁹So I became greater than all who had lived in Jerusalem before me, and my wisdom never failed me.

¹⁰Anything I wanted, I would take. I denied myself no pleasure. I even found great pleasure in hard work, a reward for all my labors.

¹¹But as I looked at everything I had worked so hard to accomplish, it was all so meaningless — like chasing the wind. There was nothing really worthwhile anywhere.

¹²So I decided to compare wisdom with foolishness and madness (for who can do this better than I, the king? ).

¹³I thought, “Wisdom is better than foolishness, just as light is better than darkness.

¹⁴For the wise can see where they are going, but fools walk in the dark.” Yet I saw that the wise and the foolish share the same fate.

¹⁵Both will die. So I said to myself, “Since I will end up the same as the fool, what’s the value of all my wisdom? This is all so meaningless!”

¹⁶For the wise and the foolish both die. The wise will not be remembered any longer than the fool. In the days to come, both will be forgotten.

¹⁷So I came to hate life because everything done here under the sun is so troubling. Everything is meaningless — like chasing the wind.

¹⁸I came to hate all my hard work here on earth, for I must leave to others everything I have earned.

¹⁹And who can tell whether my successors will be wise or foolish? Yet they will control everything I have gained by my skill and hard work under the sun. How meaningless!

²⁰So I gave up in despair, questioning the value of all my hard work in this world.

²¹Some people work wisely with knowledge and skill, then must leave the fruit of their efforts to someone who hasn’t worked for it. This, too, is meaningless, a great tragedy.

²²So what do people get in this life for all their hard work and anxiety?

²³Their days of labor are filled with pain and grief; even at night their minds cannot rest. It is all meaningless.

²⁴So I decided there is nothing better than to enjoy food and drink and to find satisfaction in work. Then I realized that these pleasures are from the hand of God.

²⁵For who can eat or enjoy anything apart from him?

²⁶God gives wisdom, knowledge, and joy to those who please him. But if a sinner becomes wealthy, God takes the wealth away and gives it to those who please him. This, too, is meaningless — like chasing the wind.

¹I love you, LORD; you are my strength.

²The LORD is my rock, my fortress, and my savior; my God is my rock, in whom I find protection. He is my shield, the power that saves me, and my place of safety.

³I called on the LORD, who is worthy of praise, and he saved me from my enemies.

⁴The ropes of death entangled me; floods of destruction swept over me.

⁵The grave wrapped its ropes around me; death laid a trap in my path.

⁶But in my distress I cried out to the LORD; yes, I prayed to my God for help. He heard me from his sanctuary; my cry to him reached his ears.

⁷Then the earth quaked and trembled. The foundations of the mountains shook; they quaked because of his anger.

⁸Smoke poured from his nostrils; fierce flames leaped from his mouth. Glowing coals blazed forth from him.

⁹He opened the heavens and came down; dark storm clouds were beneath his feet.

¹⁰Mounted on a mighty angelic being, he flew, soaring on the wings of the wind.

¹¹He shrouded himself in darkness, veiling his approach with dark rain clouds.

¹²Thick clouds shielded the brightness around him and rained down hail and burning coals.

¹³The LORD thundered from heaven; the voice of the Most High resounded amid the hail and burning coals.

¹⁴He shot his arrows and scattered his enemies; great bolts of lightning flashed, and they were confused.

¹⁵Then at your command, O LORD, at the blast of your breath, the bottom of the sea could be seen, and the foundations of the earth were laid bare.

¹⁶He reached down from heaven and rescued me; he drew me out of deep waters.

¹⁷He rescued me from my powerful enemies, from those who hated me and were too strong for me.

¹⁸They attacked me at a moment when I was in distress, but the LORD supported me.

¹⁹He led me to a place of safety; he rescued me because he delights in me.

²⁰The LORD rewarded me for doing right; he restored me because of my innocence.

²¹For I have kept the ways of the LORD; I have not turned from my God to follow evil.

²²I have followed all his regulations; I have never abandoned his decrees.

²³I am blameless before God; I have kept myself from sin.

²⁴The LORD rewarded me for doing right. He has seen my innocence.

²⁵To the faithful you show yourself faithful; to those with integrity you show integrity.

²⁶To the pure you show yourself pure, but to the crooked you show yourself shrewd.

²⁷You rescue the humble, but you humiliate the proud.

²⁸You light a lamp for me. The LORD, my God, lights up my darkness.

²⁹In your strength I can crush an army; with my God I can scale any wall.

³⁰God’s way is perfect. All the LORD’s promises prove true. He is a shield for all who look to him for protection.

³¹For who is God except the LORD? Who but our God is a solid rock?

³²God arms me with strength, and he makes my way perfect.

³³He makes me as surefooted as a deer, enabling me to stand on mountain heights.

³⁴He trains my hands for battle; he strengthens my arm to draw a bronze bow.

³⁵You have given me your shield of victory. Your right hand supports me; your help has made me great.

³⁶You have made a wide path for my feet to keep them from slipping.

³⁷I chased my enemies and caught them; I did not stop until they were conquered.

³⁸I struck them down so they could not get up; they fell beneath my feet.

³⁹You have armed me with strength for the battle; you have subdued my enemies under my feet.

⁴⁰You placed my foot on their necks. I have destroyed all who hated me.

⁴¹They called for help, but no one came to their rescue. They even cried to the LORD, but he refused to answer.

⁴²I ground them as fine as dust in the wind. I swept them into the gutter like dirt.

⁴³You gave me victory over my accusers. You appointed me ruler over nations; people I don’t even know now serve me.

⁴⁴As soon as they hear of me, they submit; foreign nations cringe before me.

⁴⁵They all lose their courage and come trembling from their strongholds.

⁴⁶The LORD lives! Praise to my Rock! May the God of my salvation be exalted!

⁴⁷He is the God who pays back those who harm me; he subdues the nations under me

⁴⁸and rescues me from my enemies. You hold me safe beyond the reach of my enemies; you save me from violent opponents.

⁴⁹For this, O LORD, I will praise you among the nations; I will sing praises to your name.

⁵⁰You give great victories to your king; you show unfailing love to your anointed, to David and all his descendants forever.

¹A wise child accepts a parent’s discipline; a mocker refuses to listen to correction.

²Wise words will win you a good meal, but treacherous people have an appetite for violence.

³Those who control their tongue will have a long life; opening your mouth can ruin everything.

⁴Lazy people want much but get little, but those who work hard will prosper.

⁵The godly hate lies; the wicked cause shame and disgrace.

⁶Godliness guards the path of the blameless, but the evil are misled by sin.

⁷Some who are poor pretend to be rich; others who are rich pretend to be poor.

⁸The rich can pay a ransom for their lives, but the poor won’t even get threatened.

⁹The life of the godly is full of light and joy, but the light of the wicked will be snuffed out.

¹⁰Pride leads to conflict; those who take advice are wise.

¹¹Wealth from get-rich-quick schemes quickly disappears; wealth from hard work grows over time.

¹²Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but a dream fulfilled is a tree of life.

¹³People who despise advice are asking for trouble; those who respect a command will succeed.

¹⁴The instruction of the wise is like a life-giving fountain; those who accept it avoid the snares of death.

¹⁵A person with good sense is respected; a treacherous person is headed for destruction.

¹⁶Wise people think before they act; fools don’t — and even brag about their foolishness.

¹⁷An unreliable messenger stumbles into trouble, but a reliable messenger brings healing.

¹⁸If you ignore criticism, you will end in poverty and disgrace; if you accept correction, you will be honored.

¹⁹It is pleasant to see dreams come true, but fools refuse to turn from evil to attain them.

²⁰Walk with the wise and become wise; associate with fools and get in trouble.

²¹Trouble chases sinners, while blessings reward the righteous.

²²Good people leave an inheritance to their grandchildren, but the sinner’s wealth passes to the godly.

²³A poor person’s farm may produce much food, but injustice sweeps it all away.

²⁴Those who spare the rod of discipline hate their children. Those who love their children care enough to discipline them.

²⁵The godly eat to their hearts’ content, but the belly of the wicked goes hungry.

¹When David was settled in his palace, he summoned Nathan the prophet. “Look,” David said, “I am living in a beautiful cedar palace, but the Ark of the LORD’s Covenant is out there under a tent!”

²Nathan replied to David, “Do whatever you have in mind, for God is with you.”

³But that same night God said to Nathan,

⁴“Go and tell my servant David, ‘This is what the LORD has declared: You are not the one to build a house for me to live in.

⁵I have never lived in a house, from the day I brought the Israelites out of Egypt until this very day. My home has always been a tent, moving from one place to another in a Tabernacle.

⁶Yet no matter where I have gone with the Israelites, I have never once complained to Israel’s leaders, the shepherds of my people. I have never asked them, “Why haven’t you built me a beautiful cedar house?”’

⁷“Now go and say to my servant David, ‘This is what the LORD of Heaven’s Armies has declared: I took you from tending sheep in the pasture and selected you to be the leader of my people Israel.

⁸I have been with you wherever you have gone, and I have destroyed all your enemies before your eyes. Now I will make your name as famous as anyone who has ever lived on the earth!

⁹And I will provide a homeland for my people Israel, planting them in a secure place where they will never be disturbed. Evil nations won’t oppress them as they’ve done in the past,

¹⁰starting from the time I appointed judges to rule my people Israel. And I will defeat all your enemies. “‘Furthermore, I declare that the LORD will build a house for you — a dynasty of kings!

¹¹For when you die and join your ancestors, I will raise up one of your descendants, one of your sons, and I will make his kingdom strong.

¹²He is the one who will build a house — a temple — for me. And I will secure his throne forever.

¹³I will be his father, and he will be my son. I will never take my favor from him as I took it from the one who ruled before you.

¹⁴I will confirm him as king over my house and my kingdom for all time, and his throne will be secure forever.’”

¹⁵So Nathan went back to David and told him everything the LORD had said in this vision.

¹⁶Then King David went in and sat before the LORD and prayed, “Who am I, O LORD God, and what is my family, that you have brought me this far?

¹⁷And now, O God, in addition to everything else, you speak of giving your servant a lasting dynasty! You speak as though I were someone very great, O LORD God!

¹⁸“What more can I say to you about the way you have honored me? You know what your servant is really like.

¹⁹For the sake of your servant, O LORD, and according to your will, you have done all these great things and have made them known.

²⁰“O LORD, there is no one like you. We have never even heard of another God like you!

²¹What other nation on earth is like your people Israel? What other nation, O God, have you redeemed from slavery to be your own people? You made a great name for yourself when you redeemed your people from Egypt. You performed awesome miracles and drove out the nations that stood in their way.

²²You chose Israel to be your very own people forever, and you, O LORD, became their God.

²³“And now, O LORD, I am your servant; do as you have promised concerning me and my family. May it be a promise that will last forever.

²⁴And may your name be established and honored forever so that everyone will say, ‘The LORD of Heaven’s Armies, the God of Israel, is Israel’s God!’ And may the house of your servant David continue before you forever.

²⁵“O my God, I have been bold enough to pray to you because you have revealed to your servant that you will build a house for him — a dynasty of kings!

²⁶For you are God, O LORD. And you have promised these good things to your servant.

²⁷And now, it has pleased you to bless the house of your servant, so that it will continue forever before you. For when you grant a blessing, O LORD, it is an eternal blessing!”

¹“When you divide the land among the tribes of Israel, you must set aside a section for the LORD as his holy portion. This piece of land will be 8 1⁄3 miles long and 6 2⁄3 miles wide. The entire area will be holy.

²A section of this land, measuring 875 feet by 875 feet, will be set aside for the Temple. An additional strip of land 87 1⁄2 feet wide is to be left empty all around it.

³Within the larger sacred area, measure out a portion of land 8 1⁄3 miles long and 3 1⁄3 miles wide. Within it the sanctuary of the Most Holy Place will be located.

⁴This area will be holy, set aside for the priests who minister to the LORD in the sanctuary. They will use it for their homes, and my Temple will be located within it.

⁵The strip of sacred land next to it, also 8 1⁄3 miles long and 3 1⁄3 miles wide, will be a living area for the Levites who work at the Temple. It will be their possession and a place for their towns.

⁶“Adjacent to the larger sacred area will be a section of land 8 1⁄3 miles long and 1 2⁄3 miles wide. This will be set aside for a city where anyone in Israel can live.

⁷“Two special sections of land will be set apart for the prince. One section will share a border with the east side of the sacred lands and city, and the second section will share a border on the west side. Then the far eastern and western borders of the prince’s lands will line up with the eastern and western boundaries of the tribal areas.

⁸These sections of land will be the prince’s allotment. Then my princes will no longer oppress and rob my people; they will assign the rest of the land to the people, giving an allotment to each tribe.

⁹“For this is what the Sovereign LORD says: Enough, you princes of Israel! Stop your violence and oppression and do what is just and right. Quit robbing and cheating my people out of their land. Stop expelling them from their homes, says the Sovereign LORD.

¹⁰Use only honest weights and scales and honest measures, both dry and liquid.

¹¹The homer will be your standard unit for measuring volume. The ephah and the bath will each measure one-tenth of a homer.

¹²The standard unit for weight will be the silver shekel. One shekel will consist of twenty gerahs, and sixty shekels will be equal to one mina.

¹³“You must give this tax to the prince: one bushel of wheat or barley for every 60 you harvest,

¹⁴one percent of your olive oil,

¹⁵and one sheep or goat for every 200 in your flocks in Israel. These will be the grain offerings, burnt offerings, and peace offerings that will make atonement for the people who bring them, says the Sovereign LORD.

¹⁶All the people of Israel must join in bringing these offerings to the prince.

¹⁷The prince will be required to provide offerings that are given at the religious festivals, the new moon celebrations, the Sabbath days, and all other similar occasions. He will provide the sin offerings, burnt offerings, grain offerings, liquid offerings, and peace offerings to purify the people of Israel, making them right with the LORD.

¹⁸“This is what the Sovereign LORD says: In early spring, on the first day of each new year, sacrifice a young bull with no defects to purify the Temple.

¹⁹The priest will take blood from this sin offering and put it on the doorposts of the Temple, the four corners of the upper ledge of the altar, and the gateposts at the entrance to the inner courtyard.

²⁰Do this also on the seventh day of the new year for anyone who has sinned through error or ignorance. In this way, you will purify the Temple.

²¹“On the fourteenth day of the first month, you must celebrate the Passover. This festival will last for seven days. The bread you eat during that time must be made without yeast.

²²On the day of Passover the prince will provide a young bull as a sin offering for himself and the people of Israel.

²³On each of the seven days of the feast he will prepare a burnt offering to the LORD, consisting of seven young bulls and seven rams without defects. A male goat will also be given each day for a sin offering.

²⁴The prince will provide a basket of flour as a grain offering and a gallon of olive oil with each young bull and ram.

²⁵“During the seven days of the Festival of Shelters, which occurs every year in early autumn, the prince will provide these same sacrifices for the sin offering, the burnt offering, and the grain offering, along with the required olive oil.

¹Once we were safe on shore, we learned that we were on the island of Malta.

²The people of the island were very kind to us. It was cold and rainy, so they built a fire on the shore to welcome us.

³As Paul gathered an armful of sticks and was laying them on the fire, a poisonous snake, driven out by the heat, bit him on the hand.

⁴The people of the island saw it hanging from his hand and said to each other, “A murderer, no doubt! Though he escaped the sea, justice will not permit him to live.”

⁵But Paul shook off the snake into the fire and was unharmed.

⁶The people waited for him to swell up or suddenly drop dead. But when they had waited a long time and saw that he wasn’t harmed, they changed their minds and decided he was a god.

⁷Near the shore where we landed was an estate belonging to Publius, the chief official of the island. He welcomed us and treated us kindly for three days.

⁸As it happened, Publius’s father was ill with fever and dysentery. Paul went in and prayed for him, and laying his hands on him, he healed him.

⁹Then all the other sick people on the island came and were healed.

¹⁰As a result we were showered with honors, and when the time came to sail, people supplied us with everything we would need for the trip.

¹¹It was three months after the shipwreck that we set sail on another ship that had wintered at the island — an Alexandrian ship with the twin gods as its figurehead.

¹²Our first stop was Syracuse, where we stayed three days.

¹³From there we sailed across to Rhegium. A day later a south wind began blowing, so the following day we sailed up the coast to Puteoli.

¹⁴There we found some believers, who invited us to spend a week with them. And so we came to Rome.

¹⁵The brothers and sisters in Rome had heard we were coming, and they came to meet us at the Forum on the Appian Way. Others joined us at The Three Taverns. When Paul saw them, he was encouraged and thanked God.

¹⁶When we arrived in Rome, Paul was permitted to have his own private lodging, though he was guarded by a soldier.

¹⁷Three days after Paul’s arrival, he called together the local Jewish leaders. He said to them, “Brothers, I was arrested in Jerusalem and handed over to the Roman government, even though I had done nothing against our people or the customs of our ancestors.

¹⁸The Romans tried me and wanted to release me, because they found no cause for the death sentence.

¹⁹But when the Jewish leaders protested the decision, I felt it necessary to appeal to Caesar, even though I had no desire to press charges against my own people.

²⁰I asked you to come here today so we could get acquainted and so I could explain to you that I am bound with this chain because I believe that the hope of Israel — the Messiah — has already come.”

²¹They replied, “We have had no letters from Judea or reports against you from anyone who has come here.

²²But we want to hear what you believe, for the only thing we know about this movement is that it is denounced everywhere.”

²³So a time was set, and on that day a large number of people came to Paul’s lodging. He explained and testified about the Kingdom of God and tried to persuade them about Jesus from the Scriptures. Using the law of Moses and the books of the prophets, he spoke to them from morning until evening.

²⁴Some were persuaded by the things he said, but others did not believe.

²⁵And after they had argued back and forth among themselves, they left with this final word from Paul: “The Holy Spirit was right when he said to your ancestors through Isaiah the prophet,

²⁶‘Go and say to this people: When you hear what I say, you will not understand. When you see what I do, you will not comprehend.

²⁷For the hearts of these people are hardened, and their ears cannot hear, and they have closed their eyes — so their eyes cannot see, and their ears cannot hear, and their hearts cannot understand, and they cannot turn to me and let me heal them.’

²⁸So I want you to know that this salvation from God has also been offered to the Gentiles, and they will accept it.”

²⁹

³⁰For the next two years, Paul lived in Rome at his own expense. He welcomed all who visited him,

³¹boldly proclaiming the Kingdom of God and teaching about the Lord Jesus Christ. And no one tried to stop him.