Professor Horner’s Reading Plan

¹“Take heed that you do not do your charitable deeds before men, to be seen by them. Otherwise you have no reward from your Father in heaven.

²Therefore, when you do a charitable deed, do not sound a trumpet before you as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may have glory from men. Assuredly, I say to you, they have their reward.

³But when you do a charitable deed, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing,

⁴that your charitable deed may be in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will Himself reward you openly.

⁵“And when you pray, you shall not be like the hypocrites. For they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the corners of the streets, that they may be seen by men. Assuredly, I say to you, they have their reward.

⁶But you, when you pray, go into your room, and when you have shut your door, pray to your Father who is in the secret place; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you openly.

⁷And when you pray, do not use vain repetitions as the heathen do. For they think that they will be heard for their many words.

⁸“Therefore do not be like them. For your Father knows the things you have need of before you ask Him.

⁹In this manner, therefore, pray: Our Father in heaven, Hallowed be Your name.

¹⁰Your kingdom come. Your will be done On earth as it is in heaven.

¹¹Give us this day our daily bread.

¹²And forgive us our debts, As we forgive our debtors.

¹³And do not lead us into temptation, But deliver us from the evil one. For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.

¹⁴“For if you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you.

¹⁵But if you do not forgive men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.

¹⁶“Moreover, when you fast, do not be like the hypocrites, with a sad countenance. For they disfigure their faces that they may appear to men to be fasting. Assuredly, I say to you, they have their reward.

¹⁷But you, when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face,

¹⁸so that you do not appear to men to be fasting, but to your Father who is in the secret place; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you openly.

¹⁹“Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal;

²⁰but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal.

²¹For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

²²“The lamp of the body is the eye. If therefore your eye is good, your whole body will be full of light.

²³But if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If therefore the light that is in you is darkness, how great is that darkness!

²⁴“No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon.

²⁵“Therefore I say to you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink; nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing?

²⁶Look at the birds of the air, for they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they?

²⁷Which of you by worrying can add one cubit to his stature?

²⁸“So why do you worry about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin;

²⁹and yet I say to you that even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.

³⁰Now if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is, and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will He not much more clothe you, O you of little faith?

³¹“Therefore do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’

³²For after all these things the Gentiles seek. For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things.

³³But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.

³⁴Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.

¹Then Moses went and spoke these words to all Israel.

²And he said to them: “I am one hundred and twenty years old today. I can no longer go out and come in. Also the LORD has said to me, ‘You shall not cross over this Jordan.’

³The LORD your God Himself crosses over before you; He will destroy these nations from before you, and you shall dispossess them. Joshua himself crosses over before you, just as the LORD has said.

⁴And the LORD will do to them as He did to Sihon and Og, the kings of the Amorites and their land, when He destroyed them.

⁵The LORD will give them over to you, that you may do to them according to every commandment which I have commanded you.

⁶Be strong and of good courage, do not fear nor be afraid of them; for the LORD your God, He is the One who goes with you. He will not leave you nor forsake you.”

⁷Then Moses called Joshua and said to him in the sight of all Israel, “Be strong and of good courage, for you must go with this people to the land which the LORD has sworn to their fathers to give them, and you shall cause them to inherit it.

⁸And the LORD, He is the One who goes before you. He will be with you, He will not leave you nor forsake you; do not fear nor be dismayed.”

⁹So Moses wrote this law and delivered it to the priests, the sons of Levi, who bore the ark of the covenant of the LORD, and to all the elders of Israel.

¹⁰And Moses commanded them, saying: “At the end of every seven years, at the appointed time in the year of release, at the Feast of Tabernacles,

¹¹when all Israel comes to appear before the LORD your God in the place which He chooses, you shall read this law before all Israel in their hearing.

¹²Gather the people together, men and women and little ones, and the stranger who is within your gates, that they may hear and that they may learn to fear the LORD your God and carefully observe all the words of this law,

¹³and that their children, who have not known it, may hear and learn to fear the LORD your God as long as you live in the land which you cross the Jordan to possess.”

¹⁴Then the LORD said to Moses, “Behold, the days approach when you must die; call Joshua, and present yourselves in the tabernacle of meeting, that I may inaugurate him.” So Moses and Joshua went and presented themselves in the tabernacle of meeting.

¹⁵Now the LORD appeared at the tabernacle in a pillar of cloud, and the pillar of cloud stood above the door of the tabernacle.

¹⁶And the LORD said to Moses: “Behold, you will rest with your fathers; and this people will rise and play the harlot with the gods of the foreigners of the land, where they go to be among them, and they will forsake Me and break My covenant which I have made with them.

¹⁷Then My anger shall be aroused against them in that day, and I will forsake them, and I will hide My face from them, and they shall be devoured. And many evils and troubles shall befall them, so that they will say in that day, ‘Have not these evils come upon us because our God is not among us?’

¹⁸And I will surely hide My face in that day because of all the evil which they have done, in that they have turned to other gods.

¹⁹“Now therefore, write down this song for yourselves, and teach it to the children of Israel; put it in their mouths, that this song may be a witness for Me against the children of Israel.

²⁰When I have brought them to the land flowing with milk and honey, of which I swore to their fathers, and they have eaten and filled themselves and grown fat, then they will turn to other gods and serve them; and they will provoke Me and break My covenant.

²¹Then it shall be, when many evils and troubles have come upon them, that this song will testify against them as a witness; for it will not be forgotten in the mouths of their descendants, for I know the inclination of their behavior today, even before I have brought them to the land of which I swore to give them.”

²²Therefore Moses wrote this song the same day, and taught it to the children of Israel.

²³Then He inaugurated Joshua the son of Nun, and said, “Be strong and of good courage; for you shall bring the children of Israel into the land of which I swore to them, and I will be with you.”

²⁴So it was, when Moses had completed writing the words of this law in a book, when they were finished,

²⁵that Moses commanded the Levites, who bore the ark of the covenant of the LORD, saying:

²⁶“Take this Book of the Law, and put it beside the ark of the covenant of the LORD your God, that it may be there as a witness against you;

²⁷for I know your rebellion and your stiff neck. If today, while I am yet alive with you, you have been rebellious against the LORD, then how much more after my death?

²⁸Gather to me all the elders of your tribes, and your officers, that I may speak these words in their hearing and call heaven and earth to witness against them.

²⁹For I know that after my death you will become utterly corrupt, and turn aside from the way which I have commanded you. And evil will befall you in the latter days, because you will do evil in the sight of the LORD, to provoke Him to anger through the work of your hands.”

³⁰Then Moses spoke in the hearing of all the assembly of Israel the words of this song until they were ended:

¹Now concerning spiritual gifts, brethren, I do not want you to be ignorant:

²You know that you were Gentiles, carried away to these dumb idols, however you were led.

³Therefore I make known to you that no one speaking by the Spirit of God calls Jesus accursed, and no one can say that Jesus is Lord except by the Holy Spirit.

⁴There are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit.

⁵There are differences of ministries, but the same Lord.

⁶And there are diversities of activities, but it is the same God who works all in all.

⁷But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to each one for the profit of all:

⁸for to one is given the word of wisdom through the Spirit, to another the word of knowledge through the same Spirit,

⁹to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healings by the same Spirit,

¹⁰to another the working of miracles, to another prophecy, to another discerning of spirits, to another different kinds of tongues, to another the interpretation of tongues.

¹¹But one and the same Spirit works all these things, distributing to each one individually as He wills.

¹²For as the body is one and has many members, but all the members of that one body, being many, are one body, so also is Christ.

¹³For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body— whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free—and have all been made to drink into one Spirit.

¹⁴For in fact the body is not one member but many.

¹⁵If the foot should say, “Because I am not a hand, I am not of the body,” is it therefore not of the body?

¹⁶And if the ear should say, “Because I am not an eye, I am not of the body,” is it therefore not of the body?

¹⁷If the whole body were an eye, where would be the hearing? If the whole were hearing, where would be the smelling?

¹⁸But now God has set the members, each one of them, in the body just as He pleased.

¹⁹And if they were all one member, where would the body be?

²⁰But now indeed there are many members, yet one body.

²¹And the eye cannot say to the hand, “I have no need of you”; nor again the head to the feet, “I have no need of you.”

²²No, much rather, those members of the body which seem to be weaker are necessary.

²³And those members of the body which we think to be less honorable, on these we bestow greater honor; and our unpresentable parts have greater modesty,

²⁴but our presentable parts have no need. But God composed the body, having given greater honor to that part which lacks it,

²⁵that there should be no schism in the body, but that the members should have the same care for one another.

²⁶And if one member suffers, all the members suffer with it; or if one member is honored, all the members rejoice with it.

²⁷Now you are the body of Christ, and members individually.

²⁸And God has appointed these in the church: first apostles, second prophets, third teachers, after that miracles, then gifts of healings, helps, administrations, varieties of tongues.

²⁹Are all apostles? Are all prophets? Are all teachers? Are all workers of miracles?

³⁰Do all have gifts of healings? Do all speak with tongues? Do all interpret?

³¹But earnestly desire the best gifts. And yet I show you a more excellent way.

¹Then I was given a reed like a measuring rod. And the angel stood, saying, “Rise and measure the temple of God, the altar, and those who worship there.

²But leave out the court which is outside the temple, and do not measure it, for it has been given to the Gentiles. And they will tread the holy city underfoot for forty-two months.

³And I will give power to my two witnesses, and they will prophesy one thousand two hundred and sixty days, clothed in sackcloth.”

⁴These are the two olive trees and the two lampstands standing before the God of the earth.

⁵And if anyone wants to harm them, fire proceeds from their mouth and devours their enemies. And if anyone wants to harm them, he must be killed in this manner.

⁶These have power to shut heaven, so that no rain falls in the days of their prophecy; and they have power over waters to turn them to blood, and to strike the earth with all plagues, as often as they desire.

⁷When they finish their testimony, the beast that ascends out of the bottomless pit will make war against them, overcome them, and kill them.

⁸And their dead bodies will lie in the street of the great city which spiritually is called Sodom and Egypt, where also our Lord was crucified.

⁹Then those from the peoples, tribes, tongues, and nations will see their dead bodies three-and-a-half days, and not allow their dead bodies to be put into graves.

¹⁰And those who dwell on the earth will rejoice over them, make merry, and send gifts to one another, because these two prophets tormented those who dwell on the earth.

¹¹Now after the three-and-a-half days the breath of life from God entered them, and they stood on their feet, and great fear fell on those who saw them.

¹²And they heard a loud voice from heaven saying to them, “Come up here.” And they ascended to heaven in a cloud, and their enemies saw them.

¹³In the same hour there was a great earthquake, and a tenth of the city fell. In the earthquake seven thousand people were killed, and the rest were afraid and gave glory to the God of heaven.

¹⁴The second woe is past. Behold, the third woe is coming quickly.

¹⁵Then the seventh angel sounded: And there were loud voices in heaven, saying, “The kingdoms of this world have become the kingdoms of our Lord and of His Christ, and He shall reign forever and ever!”

¹⁶And the twenty-four elders who sat before God on their thrones fell on their faces and worshiped God,

¹⁷saying: “We give You thanks, O Lord God Almighty, The One who is and who was and who is to come, Because You have taken Your great power and reigned.

¹⁸The nations were angry, and Your wrath has come, And the time of the dead, that they should be judged, And that You should reward Your servants the prophets and the saints, And those who fear Your name, small and great, And should destroy those who destroy the earth.”

¹⁹Then the temple of God was opened in heaven, and the ark of His covenant was seen in His temple. And there were lightnings, noises, thunderings, an earthquake, and great hail.

¹Where has your beloved gone, O fairest among women? Where has your beloved turned aside, That we may seek him with you?

²My beloved has gone to his garden, To the beds of spices, To feed his flock in the gardens, And to gather lilies.

³I am my beloved’s, And my beloved is mine. He feeds his flock among the lilies.

⁴O my love, you are as beautiful as Tirzah, Lovely as Jerusalem, Awesome as an army with banners!

⁵Turn your eyes away from me, For they have overcome me. Your hair is like a flock of goats Going down from Gilead.

⁶Your teeth are like a flock of sheep Which have come up from the washing; Every one bears twins, And none is barren among them.

⁷Like a piece of pomegranate Are your temples behind your veil.

⁸There are sixty queens And eighty concubines, And virgins without number.

⁹My dove, my perfect one, Is the only one, The only one of her mother, The favorite of the one who bore her. The daughters saw her And called her blessed, The queens and the concubines, And they praised her.

¹⁰Who is she who looks forth as the morning, Fair as the moon, Clear as the sun, Awesome as an army with banners?

¹¹I went down to the garden of nuts To see the verdure of the valley, To see whether the vine had budded And the pomegranates had bloomed.

¹²Before I was even aware, My soul had made me As the chariots of my noble people.

¹³Return, return, O Shulamite; Return, return, that we may look upon you! What would you see in the Shulamite— As it were, the dance of the two camps?

¹A Psalm of David when he pretended madness before Abimelech, who drove him away, and he departed. [1] I will bless the LORD at all times; His praise shall continually be in my mouth.

²My soul shall make its boast in the LORD; The humble shall hear of it and be glad.

³Oh, magnify the LORD with me, And let us exalt His name together.

⁴I sought the LORD, and He heard me, And delivered me from all my fears.

⁵They looked to Him and were radiant, And their faces were not ashamed.

⁶This poor man cried out, and the LORD heard him, And saved him out of all his troubles.

⁷The angel of the LORD encamps all around those who fear Him, And delivers them.

⁸Oh, taste and see that the LORD is good; Blessed is the man who trusts in Him!

⁹Oh, fear the LORD, you His saints! There is no want to those who fear Him.

¹⁰The young lions lack and suffer hunger; But those who seek the LORD shall not lack any good thing.

¹¹Come, you children, listen to me; I will teach you the fear of the LORD.

¹²Who is the man who desires life, And loves many days, that he may see good?

¹³Keep your tongue from evil, And your lips from speaking deceit.

¹⁴Depart from evil and do good; Seek peace and pursue it.

¹⁵The eyes of the LORD are on the righteous, And His ears are open to their cry.

¹⁶The face of the LORD is against those who do evil, To cut off the remembrance of them from the earth.

¹⁷The righteous cry out, and the LORD hears, And delivers them out of all their troubles.

¹⁸The LORD is near to those who have a broken heart, And saves such as have a contrite spirit.

¹⁹Many are the afflictions of the righteous, But the LORD delivers him out of them all.

²⁰He guards all his bones; Not one of them is broken.

²¹Evil shall slay the wicked, And those who hate the righteous shall be condemned.

²²The LORD redeems the soul of His servants, And none of those who trust in Him shall be condemned.

¹He who is often rebuked, and hardens his neck, Will suddenly be destroyed, and that without remedy.

²When the righteous are in authority, the people rejoice; But when a wicked man rules, the people groan.

³Whoever loves wisdom makes his father rejoice, But a companion of harlots wastes his wealth.

⁴The king establishes the land by justice, But he who receives bribes overthrows it.

⁵A man who flatters his neighbor Spreads a net for his feet.

⁶By transgression an evil man is snared, But the righteous sings and rejoices.

⁷The righteous considers the cause of the poor, But the wicked does not understand such knowledge.

⁸Scoffers set a city aflame, But wise men turn away wrath.

⁹If a wise man contends with a foolish man, Whether the fool rages or laughs, there is no peace.

¹⁰The bloodthirsty hate the blameless, But the upright seek his well-being.

¹¹A fool vents all his feelings, But a wise man holds them back.

¹²If a ruler pays attention to lies, All his servants become wicked.

¹³The poor man and the oppressor have this in common: The LORD gives light to the eyes of both.

¹⁴The king who judges the poor with truth, His throne will be established forever.

¹⁵The rod and rebuke give wisdom, But a child left to himself brings shame to his mother.

¹⁶When the wicked are multiplied, transgression increases; But the righteous will see their fall.

¹⁷Correct your son, and he will give you rest; Yes, he will give delight to your soul.

¹⁸Where there is no revelation, the people cast off restraint; But happy is he who keeps the law.

¹⁹A servant will not be corrected by mere words; For though he understands, he will not respond.

²⁰Do you see a man hasty in his words? There is more hope for a fool than for him.

²¹He who pampers his servant from childhood Will have him as a son in the end.

²²An angry man stirs up strife, And a furious man abounds in transgression.

²³A man’s pride will bring him low, But the humble in spirit will retain honor.

²⁴Whoever is a partner with a thief hates his own life; He swears to tell the truth, but reveals nothing.

²⁵The fear of man brings a snare, But whoever trusts in the LORD shall be safe.

²⁶Many seek the ruler’s favor, But justice for man comes from the LORD.

²⁷An unjust man is an abomination to the righteous, And he who is upright in the way is an abomination to the wicked.

¹Moreover he made a bronze altar: twenty cubits was its length, twenty cubits its width, and ten cubits its height.

²Then he made the Sea of cast bronze, ten cubits from one brim to the other; it was completely round. Its height was five cubits, and a line of thirty cubits measured its circumference.

³And under it was the likeness of oxen encircling it all around, ten to a cubit, all the way around the Sea. The oxen were cast in two rows, when it was cast.

⁴It stood on twelve oxen: three looking toward the north, three looking toward the west, three looking toward the south, and three looking toward the east; the Sea was set upon them, and all their back parts pointed inward.

⁵It was a handbreadth thick; and its brim was shaped like the brim of a cup, like a lily blossom. It contained three thousand baths.

⁶He also made ten lavers, and put five on the right side and five on the left, to wash in them; such things as they offered for the burnt offering they would wash in them, but the Sea was for the priests to wash in.

⁷And he made ten lampstands of gold according to their design, and set them in the temple, five on the right side and five on the left.

⁸He also made ten tables, and placed them in the temple, five on the right side and five on the left. And he made one hundred bowls of gold.

⁹Furthermore he made the court of the priests, and the great court and doors for the court; and he overlaid these doors with bronze.

¹⁰He set the Sea on the right side, toward the southeast.

¹¹Then Huram made the pots and the shovels and the bowls. So Huram finished doing the work that he was to do for King Solomon for the house of God:

¹²the two pillars and the bowl-shaped capitals that were on top of the two pillars; the two networks covering the two bowl-shaped capitals which were on top of the pillars;

¹³four hundred pomegranates for the two networks (two rows of pomegranates for each network, to cover the two bowl-shaped capitals that were on the pillars);

¹⁴he also made carts and the lavers on the carts;

¹⁵one Sea and twelve oxen under it;

¹⁶also the pots, the shovels, the forks—and all their articles Huram his master craftsman made of burnished bronze for King Solomon for the house of the LORD.

¹⁷In the plain of Jordan the king had them cast in clay molds, between Succoth and Zeredah.

¹⁸And Solomon had all these articles made in such great abundance that the weight of the bronze was not determined.

¹⁹Thus Solomon had all the furnishings made for the house of God: the altar of gold and the tables on which was the showbread;

²⁰the lampstands with their lamps of pure gold, to burn in the prescribed manner in front of the inner sanctuary,

²¹with the flowers and the lamps and the wick-trimmers of gold, of purest gold;

²²the trimmers, the bowls, the ladles, and the censers of pure gold. As for the entry of the sanctuary, its inner doors to the Most Holy Place, and the doors of the main hall of the temple, were gold.

¹The word of the LORD that came to Hosea the son of Beeri, in the days of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah, and in the days of Jeroboam the son of Joash, king of Israel.

²When the LORD began to speak by Hosea, the LORD said to Hosea: “Go, take yourself a wife of harlotry And children of harlotry, For the land has committed great harlotry By departing from the LORD.”

³So he went and took Gomer the daughter of Diblaim, and she conceived and bore him a son.

⁴Then the LORD said to him: “Call his name Jezreel, For in a little while I will avenge the bloodshed of Jezreel on the house of Jehu, And bring an end to the kingdom of the house of Israel.

⁵It shall come to pass in that day That I will break the bow of Israel in the Valley of Jezreel.”

⁶And she conceived again and bore a daughter. Then God said to him: “Call her name Lo-Ruhamah, For I will no longer have mercy on the house of Israel, But I will utterly take them away.

⁷Yet I will have mercy on the house of Judah, Will save them by the LORD their God, And will not save them by bow, Nor by sword or battle, By horses or horsemen.”

⁸Now when she had weaned Lo-Ruhamah, she conceived and bore a son.

⁹Then God said: “Call his name Lo-Ammi, For you are not My people, And I will not be your God.

¹⁰“Yet the number of the children of Israel Shall be as the sand of the sea, Which cannot be measured or numbered. And it shall come to pass In the place where it was said to them, ‘You are not My people,’ There it shall be said to them, ‘You are sons of the living God.’

¹¹Then the children of Judah and the children of Israel Shall be gathered together, And appoint for themselves one head; And they shall come up out of the land, For great will be the day of Jezreel!

¹Then he came to Derbe and Lystra. And behold, a certain disciple was there, named Timothy, the son of a certain Jewish woman who believed, but his father was Greek.

²He was well spoken of by the brethren who were at Lystra and Iconium.

³Paul wanted to have him go on with him. And he took him and circumcised him because of the Jews who were in that region, for they all knew that his father was Greek.

⁴And as they went through the cities, they delivered to them the decrees to keep, which were determined by the apostles and elders at Jerusalem.

⁵So the churches were strengthened in the faith, and increased in number daily.

⁶Now when they had gone through Phrygia and the region of Galatia, they were forbidden by the Holy Spirit to preach the word in Asia.

⁷After they had come to Mysia, they tried to go into Bithynia, but the Spirit did not permit them.

⁸So passing by Mysia, they came down to Troas.

⁹And a vision appeared to Paul in the night. A man of Macedonia stood and pleaded with him, saying, “Come over to Macedonia and help us.”

¹⁰Now after he had seen the vision, immediately we sought to go to Macedonia, concluding that the Lord had called us to preach the gospel to them.

¹¹Therefore, sailing from Troas, we ran a straight course to Samothrace, and the next day came to Neapolis,

¹²and from there to Philippi, which is the foremost city of that part of Macedonia, a colony. And we were staying in that city for some days.

¹³And on the Sabbath day we went out of the city to the riverside, where prayer was customarily made; and we sat down and spoke to the women who met there.

¹⁴Now a certain woman named Lydia heard us. She was a seller of purple from the city of Thyatira, who worshiped God. The Lord opened her heart to heed the things spoken by Paul.

¹⁵And when she and her household were baptized, she begged us, saying, “If you have judged me to be faithful to the Lord, come to my house and stay.” So she persuaded us.

¹⁶Now it happened, as we went to prayer, that a certain slave girl possessed with a spirit of divination met us, who brought her masters much profit by fortune-telling.

¹⁷This girl followed Paul and us, and cried out, saying, “These men are the servants of the Most High God, who proclaim to us the way of salvation.”

¹⁸And this she did for many days. But Paul, greatly annoyed, turned and said to the spirit, “I command you in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her.” And he came out that very hour.

¹⁹But when her masters saw that their hope of profit was gone, they seized Paul and Silas and dragged them into the marketplace to the authorities.

²⁰And they brought them to the magistrates, and said, “These men, being Jews, exceedingly trouble our city;

²¹and they teach customs which are not lawful for us, being Romans, to receive or observe.”

²²Then the multitude rose up together against them; and the magistrates tore off their clothes and commanded them to be beaten with rods.

²³And when they had laid many stripes on them, they threw them into prison, commanding the jailer to keep them securely.

²⁴Having received such a charge, he put them into the inner prison and fastened their feet in the stocks.

²⁵But at midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the prisoners were listening to them.

²⁶Suddenly there was a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison were shaken; and immediately all the doors were opened and everyone’s chains were loosed.

²⁷And the keeper of the prison, awaking from sleep and seeing the prison doors open, supposing the prisoners had fled, drew his sword and was about to kill himself.

²⁸But Paul called with a loud voice, saying, “Do yourself no harm, for we are all here.”

²⁹Then he called for a light, ran in, and fell down trembling before Paul and Silas.

³⁰And he brought them out and said, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?”

³¹So they said, “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved, you and your household.”

³²Then they spoke the word of the Lord to him and to all who were in his house.

³³And he took them the same hour of the night and washed their stripes. And immediately he and all his family were baptized.

³⁴Now when he had brought them into his house, he set food before them; and he rejoiced, having believed in God with all his household.

³⁵And when it was day, the magistrates sent the officers, saying, “Let those men go.”

³⁶So the keeper of the prison reported these words to Paul, saying, “The magistrates have sent to let you go. Now therefore depart, and go in peace.”

³⁷But Paul said to them, “They have beaten us openly, uncondemned Romans, and have thrown us into prison. And now do they put us out secretly? No indeed! Let them come themselves and get us out.”

³⁸And the officers told these words to the magistrates, and they were afraid when they heard that they were Romans.

³⁹Then they came and pleaded with them and brought them out, and asked them to depart from the city.

⁴⁰So they went out of the prison and entered the house of Lydia; and when they had seen the brethren, they encouraged them and departed.