Professor Horner’s Reading Plan

¹When he came down from the mountain, large crowds followed him.

²Right away a man with leprosy came up and knelt before him, saying, “Lord, if you are willing, you can make me clean.”

³Reaching out his hand, Jesus touched him, saying, “I am willing; be made clean.” Immediately his leprosy was cleansed.

⁴Then Jesus told him, “See that you don’t tell anyone; but go, show yourself to the priest, and offer the gift that Moses commanded, as a testimony to them.”

⁵When he entered Capernaum, a centurion came to him, pleading with him,

⁶“Lord, my servant is lying at home paralyzed, in terrible agony.”

⁷He said to him, “Am I to come and heal him?”

⁸“Lord,” the centurion replied, “I am not worthy to have you come under my roof. But just say the word, and my servant will be healed.

⁹For I too am a man under authority, having soldiers under my command. I say to this one, ‘Go,’ and he goes; and to another, ‘Come,’ and he comes; and to my servant, ‘Do this!’ and he does it.”

¹⁰Hearing this, Jesus was amazed and said to those following him, “Truly I tell you, I have not found anyone in Israel with so great a faith.

¹¹I tell you that many will come from east and west to share the banquet with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven.

¹²But the sons of the kingdom will be thrown into the outer darkness where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”

¹³Then Jesus told the centurion, “Go. As you have believed, let it be done for you.” And his servant was healed that very moment.

¹⁴Jesus went into Peter’s house and saw his mother-in-law lying in bed with a fever.

¹⁵So he touched her hand, and the fever left her. Then she got up and began to serve him.

¹⁶When evening came, they brought to him many who were demon-possessed. He drove out the spirits with a word and healed all who were sick,

¹⁷so that what was spoken through the prophet Isaiah might be fulfilled: He himself took our weaknesses and carried our diseases.

¹⁸When Jesus saw a large crowd around him, he gave the order to go to the other side of the sea.

¹⁹A scribe approached him and said, “Teacher, I will follow you wherever you go.”

²⁰Jesus told him, “Foxes have dens, and birds of the sky have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head.”

²¹“Lord,” another of his disciples said, “first let me go bury my father.”

²²But Jesus told him, “Follow me, and let the dead bury their own dead.”

²³As he got into the boat, his disciples followed him.

²⁴Suddenly, a violent storm arose on the sea, so that the boat was being swamped by the waves — but Jesus kept sleeping.

²⁵So the disciples came and woke him up, saying, “Lord, save us! We’re going to die!”

²⁶He said to them, “Why are you afraid, you of little faith?” Then he got up and rebuked the winds and the sea, and there was a great calm.

²⁷The men were amazed and asked, “What kind of man is this? Even the winds and the sea obey him!”

²⁸When he had come to the other side, to the region of the Gadarenes, two demon-possessed men met him as they came out of the tombs. They were so violent that no one could pass that way.

²⁹Suddenly they shouted, “What do you have to do with us, Son of God? Have you come here to torment us before the time?”

³⁰A long way off from them, a large herd of pigs was feeding.

³¹“If you drive us out,” the demons begged him, “send us into the herd of pigs.”

³²“Go!” he told them. So when they had come out, they entered the pigs, and the whole herd rushed down the steep bank into the sea and perished in the water.

³³Then the men who tended them fled. They went into the city and reported everything, especially what had happened to those who were demon-possessed.

³⁴At that, the whole town went out to meet Jesus. When they saw him, they begged him to leave their region.

¹This is the blessing that Moses, the man of God, gave the Israelites before his death.

²He said: The LORD came from Sinai and appeared to them from Seir; he shone on them from Mount Paran and came with ten thousand holy ones, with lightning from his right hand for them.

³Indeed he loves the people. All your holy ones are in your hand, and they assemble at your feet. Each receives your words.

⁴Moses gave us instruction, a possession for the assembly of Jacob.

⁵So he became King in Jeshurun when the leaders of the people gathered with the tribes of Israel.

⁶Let Reuben live and not die though his people become few.

⁷He said this about Judah: LORD, hear Judah’s cry and bring him to his people. He fights for his cause with his own hands, but may you be a help against his foes.

⁸He said about Levi: Your Thummim and Urim belong to your faithful one; you tested him at Massah and contended with him at the Waters of Meribah.

⁹He said about his father and mother, “I do not regard them.” He disregarded his brothers and didn’t acknowledge his sons, for they kept your word and maintained your covenant.

¹⁰They will teach your ordinances to Jacob and your instruction to Israel; they will set incense before you and whole burnt offerings on your altar.

¹¹LORD, bless his possessions, and accept the work of his hands. Break the back of his adversaries and enemies, so that they cannot rise again.

¹²He said about Benjamin: The LORD’s beloved rests securely on him. He shields him all day long, and he rests on his shoulders.

¹³He said about Joseph: May his land be blessed by the LORD with the dew of heaven’s bounty and the watery depths that lie beneath;

¹⁴with the bountiful harvest from the sun and the abundant yield of the seasons;

¹⁵with the best products of the ancient mountains and the bounty of the eternal hills;

¹⁶with the choice gifts of the land and everything in it; and with the favor of him who appeared in the burning bush. May these rest on the head of Joseph, on the brow of the prince of his brothers.

¹⁷His firstborn bull has splendor, and horns like those of a wild ox; he gores all the peoples with them to the ends of the earth. Such are the ten thousands of Ephraim, and such are the thousands of Manasseh.

¹⁸He said about Zebulun: Rejoice, Zebulun, in your journeys, and Issachar, in your tents.

¹⁹They summon the peoples to a mountain; there they offer acceptable sacrifices. For they draw from the wealth of the seas and the hidden treasures of the sand.

²⁰He said about Gad: The one who enlarges Gad’s territory will be blessed. He lies down like a lion and tears off an arm or even a head.

²¹He chose the best part for himself, because a ruler’s portion was assigned there for him. He came with the leaders of the people; he carried out the LORD’s justice and his ordinances for Israel.

²²He said about Dan: Dan is a young lion, leaping out of Bashan.

²³He said about Naphtali: Naphtali, enjoying approval, full of the LORD’s blessing, take possession to the west and the south.

²⁴He said about Asher: May Asher be the most blessed of the sons; may he be the most favored among his brothers and dip his foot in olive oil.

²⁵May the bolts of your gate be iron and bronze, and your strength last as long as you live.

²⁶There is none like the God of Jeshurun, who rides the heavens to your aid, the clouds in his majesty.

²⁷The God of old is your dwelling place, and underneath are the everlasting arms. He drives out the enemy before you and commands, “Destroy!”

²⁸So Israel dwells securely; Jacob lives untroubled in a land of grain and new wine; even his skies drip with dew.

²⁹How happy you are, Israel! Who is like you, a people saved by the LORD? He is the shield that protects you, the sword you boast in. Your enemies will cringe before you, and you will tread on their backs.

¹Pursue love and desire spiritual gifts, and especially that you may prophesy.

²For the person who speaks in another tongue is not speaking to people but to God, since no one understands him; he speaks mysteries in the Spirit.

³On the other hand, the person who prophesies speaks to people for their strengthening, encouragement, and consolation.

⁴The person who speaks in another tongue builds himself up, but the one who prophesies builds up the church.

⁵I wish all of you spoke in other tongues, but even more that you prophesied. The person who prophesies is greater than the person who speaks in tongues, unless he interprets so that the church may be built up.

⁶So now, brothers and sisters, if I come to you speaking in other tongues, how will I benefit you unless I speak to you with a revelation or knowledge or prophecy or teaching?

⁷Even lifeless instruments that produce sounds — whether flute or harp  — if they don’t make a distinction in the notes, how will what is played on the flute or harp be recognized?

⁸In fact, if the bugle makes an unclear sound, who will prepare for battle?

⁹In the same way, unless you use your tongue for intelligible speech, how will what is spoken be known? For you will be speaking into the air.

¹⁰There are doubtless many different kinds of languages in the world, none is without meaning.

¹¹Therefore, if I do not know the meaning of the language, I will be a foreigner to the speaker, and the speaker will be a foreigner to me.

¹²So also you — since you are zealous for spiritual gifts, seek to excel in building up the church.

¹³Therefore the person who speaks in another tongue should pray that he can interpret.

¹⁴For if I pray in another tongue, my spirit prays, but my understanding is unfruitful.

¹⁵What then? I will pray with the spirit, and I will also pray with my understanding. I will sing praise with the spirit, and I will also sing praise with my understanding.

¹⁶Otherwise, if you praise with the spirit, how will the outsider say “Amen” at your giving of thanks, since he does not know what you are saying?

¹⁷For you may very well be giving thanks, but the other person is not being built up.

¹⁸I thank God that I speak in other tongues more than all of you;

¹⁹yet in the church I would rather speak five words with my understanding, in order to teach others also, than ten thousand words in another tongue.

²⁰Brothers and sisters, don’t be childish in your thinking, but be infants in regard to evil and adult in your thinking.

²¹It is written in the law, I will speak to this people by people of other tongues and by the lips of foreigners, and even then, they will not listen to me, says the Lord.

²²Speaking in other tongues, then, is intended as a sign, not for believers but for unbelievers, while prophecy is not for unbelievers but for believers.

²³If, therefore, the whole church assembles together and all are speaking in other tongues and people who are outsiders or unbelievers come in, will they not say that you are out of your minds?

²⁴But if all are prophesying and some unbeliever or outsider comes in, he is convicted by all and is called to account by all.

²⁵The secrets of his heart will be revealed, and as a result he will fall facedown and worship God, proclaiming, “God is really among you.”

²⁶What then, brothers and sisters? Whenever you come together, each one has a hymn, a teaching, a revelation, another tongue, or an interpretation. Everything is to be done for building up.

²⁷If anyone speaks in another tongue, there are to be only two, or at the most three, each in turn, and let someone interpret.

²⁸But if there is no interpreter, that person is to keep silent in the church and speak to himself and God.

²⁹Two or three prophets should speak, and the others should evaluate.

³⁰But if something has been revealed to another person sitting there, the first prophet should be silent.

³¹For you can all prophesy one by one, so that everyone may learn and everyone may be encouraged.

³²And the prophets’ spirits are subject to the prophets,

³³since God is not a God of disorder but of peace. As in all the churches of the saints,

³⁴the women should be silent in the churches, for they are not permitted to speak, but are to submit themselves, as the law also says.

³⁵If they want to learn something, let them ask their own husbands at home, since it is disgraceful for a woman to speak in the church.

³⁶Or did the word of God originate from you, or did it come to you only?

³⁷If anyone thinks he is a prophet or spiritual, he should recognize that what I write to you is the Lord’s command.

³⁸If anyone ignores this, he will be ignored.

³⁹So then, my brothers and sisters, be eager to prophesy, and do not forbid speaking in other tongues.

⁴⁰But everything is to be done decently and in order.

¹And I saw a beast coming up out of the sea. It had ten horns and seven heads. On its horns were ten crowns, and on its heads were blasphemous names.

²The beast I saw was like a leopard, its feet were like a bear’s, and its mouth was like a lion’s mouth. The dragon gave the beast his power, his throne, and great authority.

³One of its heads appeared to be fatally wounded, but its fatal wound was healed. The whole earth was amazed and followed the beast.

⁴They worshiped the dragon because he gave authority to the beast. And they worshiped the beast, saying, “Who is like the beast? Who is able to wage war against it?”

⁵The beast was given a mouth to utter boasts and blasphemies. It was allowed to exercise authority for forty-two months.

⁶It began to speak blasphemies against God: to blaspheme his name and his dwelling — those who dwell in heaven.

⁷And it was permitted to wage war against the saints and to conquer them. It was also given authority over every tribe, people, language, and nation.

⁸All those who live on the earth will worship it, everyone whose name was not written from the foundation of the world in the book of life of the Lamb who was slaughtered.

⁹If anyone has ears to hear, let him listen.

¹⁰If anyone is to be taken captive, into captivity he goes. If anyone is to be killed with a sword, with a sword he will be killed. This calls for endurance and faithfulness from the saints.

¹¹Then I saw another beast coming up out of the earth; it had two horns like a lamb, but it spoke like a dragon.

¹²It exercises all the authority of the first beast on its behalf and compels the earth and those who live on it to worship the first beast, whose fatal wound was healed.

¹³It also performs great signs, even causing fire to come down from heaven to earth in front of people.

¹⁴It deceives those who live on the earth because of the signs that it is permitted to perform in the presence of the beast, telling those who live on the earth to make an image of the beast who was wounded by the sword and yet lived.

¹⁵It was permitted to give breath to the image of the beast, so that the image of the beast could both speak and cause whoever would not worship the image of the beast to be killed.

¹⁶And it makes everyone — small and great, rich and poor, free and slave — to receive a mark on his right hand or on his forehead,

¹⁷so that no one can buy or sell unless he has the mark: the beast’s name or the number of its name.

¹⁸This calls for wisdom: Let the one who has understanding calculate the number of the beast, because it is the number of a person. Its number is 666.

¹If only I could treat you like my brother, one who nursed at my mother’s breasts, I would find you in public and kiss you, and no one would scorn me.

²I would lead you, I would take you, to the house of my mother who taught me. I would give you spiced wine to drink from the juice of my pomegranate.

³May his left hand be under my head, and his right arm embrace me.

⁴Young women of Jerusalem, I charge you, do not stir up or awaken love until the appropriate time.

⁵Who is this coming up from the wilderness, leaning on the one she loves? I awakened you under the apricot tree. There your mother conceived you; there she conceived and gave you birth.

⁶Set me as a seal on your heart, as a seal on your arm. For love is as strong as death; jealousy is as unrelenting as Sheol. Love’s flames are fiery flames  — an almighty flame!

⁷A huge torrent cannot extinguish love; rivers cannot sweep it away. If a man were to give all his wealth for love, it would be utterly scorned.

⁸Our sister is young; she has no breasts. What will we do for our sister on the day she is spoken for?

⁹If she is a wall, we will build a silver barricade on her. If she is a door, we will enclose her with cedar planks.

¹⁰I am a wall and my breasts like towers. So in his eyes I have become like one who finds peace.

¹¹Solomon owned a vineyard in Baal-hamon. He leased the vineyard to tenants. Each was to bring for his fruit one thousand pieces of silver.

¹²I have my own vineyard. The one thousand are for you, Solomon, but two hundred for those who take care of its fruits.

¹³You who dwell in the gardens, companions are listening for your voice; let me hear you!

¹⁴Run away with me, my love, and be like a gazelle or a young stag on the mountains of spices.

¹For the choir director. Of David, the LORD’s servant. [1] An oracle within my heart concerning the transgression of the wicked person: Dread of God has no effect on him.

²For with his flattering opinion of himself, he does not discover and hate his iniquity.

³The words from his mouth are malicious and deceptive; he has stopped acting wisely and doing good.

⁴Even on his bed he makes malicious plans. He sets himself on a path that is not good, and he does not reject evil.

⁵LORD, your faithful love reaches to heaven, your faithfulness to the clouds.

⁶Your righteousness is like the highest mountains, your judgments like the deepest sea. LORD, you preserve people and animals.

⁷How priceless your faithful love is, God! People take refuge in the shadow of your wings.

⁸They are filled from the abundance of your house. You let them drink from your refreshing stream.

⁹For the wellspring of life is with you. By means of your light we see light.

¹⁰Spread your faithful love over those who know you, and your righteousness over the upright in heart.

¹¹Do not let the foot of the arrogant come near me or the hand of the wicked drive me away.

¹²There! The evildoers have fallen. They have been thrown down and cannot rise.

¹The words of King Lemuel, a pronouncement that his mother taught him:

²What should I say, my son? What, son of my womb? What, son of my vows?

³Don’t spend your energy on women or your efforts on those who destroy kings.

⁴It is not for kings, Lemuel, it is not for kings to drink wine or for rulers to desire beer.

⁵Otherwise, he will drink, forget what is decreed, and pervert justice for all the oppressed.

⁶Give beer to one who is dying and wine to one whose life is bitter.

⁷Let him drink so that he can forget his poverty and remember his trouble no more.

⁸Speak up for those who have no voice, for the justice of all who are dispossessed.

⁹Speak up, judge righteously, and defend the cause of the oppressed and needy.

¹⁰Who can find a wife of noble character? She is far more precious than jewels.

¹¹The heart of her husband trusts in her, and he will not lack anything good.

¹²She rewards him with good, not evil, all the days of her life.

¹³She selects wool and flax and works with willing hands.

¹⁴She is like the merchant ships, bringing her food from far away.

¹⁵She rises while it is still night and provides food for her household and portions for her female servants.

¹⁶She evaluates a field and buys it; she plants a vineyard with her earnings.

¹⁷She draws on her strength and reveals that her arms are strong.

¹⁸She sees that her profits are good, and her lamp never goes out at night.

¹⁹She extends her hands to the spinning staff, and her hands hold the spindle.

²⁰Her hands reach out to the poor, and she extends her hands to the needy.

²¹She is not afraid for her household when it snows, for all in her household are doubly clothed.

²²She makes her own bed coverings; her clothing is fine linen and purple.

²³Her husband is known at the city gates, where he sits among the elders of the land.

²⁴She makes and sells linen garments; she delivers belts to the merchants.

²⁵Strength and honor are her clothing, and she can laugh at the time to come.

²⁶Her mouth speaks wisdom, and loving instruction is on her tongue.

²⁷She watches over the activities of her household and is never idle.

²⁸Her children rise up and call her blessed; her husband also praises her:

²⁹“Many women have done noble deeds, but you surpass them all!”

³⁰Charm is deceptive and beauty is fleeting, but a woman who fears the LORD will be praised.

³¹Give her the reward of her labor, and let her works praise her at the city gates.

¹Then Solomon said: The LORD said he would dwell in total darkness,

²but I have built an exalted temple for you, a place for your residence forever.

³Then the king turned and blessed the entire congregation of Israel while they were standing.

⁴He said: Blessed be the LORD God of Israel! He spoke directly to my father David, and he has fulfilled the promise by his power. He said,

⁵“Since the day I brought my people Israel out of the land of Egypt, I have not chosen a city to build a temple in among any of the tribes of Israel, so that my name would be there, and I have not chosen a man to be ruler over my people Israel.

⁶But I have chosen Jerusalem so that my name will be there, and I have chosen David to be over my people Israel.”

⁷My father David had his heart set on building a temple for the name of the LORD, the God of Israel.

⁸However, the LORD said to my father David, “Since it was your desire to build a temple for my name, you have done well to have this desire.

⁹Yet, you are not the one to build the temple, but your son, your own offspring, will build the temple for my name.”

¹⁰So the LORD has fulfilled what he promised. I have taken the place of my father David and I sit on the throne of Israel, as the LORD promised. I have built the temple for the name of the LORD, the God of Israel.

¹¹I have put the ark there, where the LORD’s covenant is that he made with the Israelites.

¹²Then Solomon stood before the altar of the LORD in front of the entire congregation of Israel and spread out his hands.

¹³For Solomon had made a bronze platform 7½ feet long, 7½ feet wide, and 4½ feet high and put it in the court. He stood on it, knelt down in front of the entire congregation of Israel, and spread out his hands toward heaven.

¹⁴He said: LORD God of Israel, there is no God like you in heaven or on earth, who keeps his gracious covenant with your servants who walk before you with all their heart.

¹⁵You have kept what you promised to your servant, my father David. You spoke directly to him, and you fulfilled your promise by your power, as it is today.

¹⁶Therefore, LORD God of Israel, keep what you promised to your servant, my father David: “You will never fail to have a man to sit before me on the throne of Israel, if only your sons guard their way to walk in my Law as you have walked before me.”

¹⁷Now, LORD God of Israel, please confirm what you promised to your servant David.

¹⁸But will God indeed live on earth with humans? Even heaven, the highest heaven, cannot contain you, much less this temple I have built.

¹⁹Listen to your servant’s prayer and his petition, LORD my God, so that you may hear the cry and the prayer that your servant prays before you,

²⁰so that your eyes watch over this temple day and night, toward the place where you said you would put your name; and so that you may hear the prayer your servant prays toward this place.

²¹Hear the petitions of your servant and your people Israel, which they pray toward this place. May you hear in your dwelling place in heaven. May you hear and forgive.

²²If a man sins against his neighbor and is forced to take an oath and he comes to take an oath before your altar in this temple,

²³may you hear in heaven and act. May you judge your servants, condemning the wicked man by bringing what he has done on his own head and providing justice for the righteous by rewarding him according to his righteousness.

²⁴If your people Israel are defeated before an enemy, because they have sinned against you, and they return to you and praise your name, and they pray and plead for mercy before you in this temple,

²⁵may you hear in heaven and forgive the sin of your people Israel. May you restore them to the land you gave them and their ancestors.

²⁶When the skies are shut and there is no rain because they have sinned against you, and they pray toward this place and praise your name, and they turn from their sins because you are afflicting them,

²⁷may you hear in heaven and forgive the sin of your servants and your people Israel, so that you may teach them the good way they should walk in. May you send rain on your land that you gave your people for an inheritance.

²⁸When there is famine in the land, when there is pestilence, when there is blight or mildew, locust or grasshopper, when their enemies besiege them in the land and its cities, when there is any plague or illness,

²⁹every prayer or petition that any person or that all your people Israel may have — they each know their own affliction and suffering — as they spread out their hands toward this temple,

³⁰may you hear in heaven, your dwelling place, and may you forgive and give to everyone according to all their ways, since you know each heart, for you alone know the human heart,

³¹so that they may fear you and walk in your ways all the days they live on the land you gave our ancestors.

³²Even for the foreigner who is not of your people Israel but has come from a distant land because of your great name and your strong hand and outstretched arm: when he comes and prays toward this temple,

³³may you hear in heaven in your dwelling place, and do all the foreigner asks you. Then all the peoples of the earth will know your name, to fear you as your people Israel do and know that this temple I have built bears your name.

³⁴When your people go out to fight against their enemies, wherever you send them, and they pray to you in the direction of this city you have chosen and the temple that I have built for your name,

³⁵may you hear their prayer and petition in heaven and uphold their cause.

³⁶When they sin against you — for there is no one who does not sin  — and you are angry with them and hand them over to the enemy, and their captors deport them to a distant or nearby country,

³⁷and when they come to their senses in the land where they were deported and repent and petition you in their captors’ land, saying: “We have sinned and done wrong; we have been wicked,”

³⁸and when they return to you with all their mind and all their heart in the land of their captivity where they were taken captive, and when they pray in the direction of their land that you gave their ancestors, and the city you have chosen, and toward the temple I have built for your name,

³⁹may you hear their prayer and petitions in heaven, your dwelling place, and uphold their cause. May you forgive your people who sinned against you.

⁴⁰Now, my God, please let your eyes be open and your ears attentive to the prayer of this place.

⁴¹Now therefore: Arise, LORD God, come to your resting place, you and your powerful ark. May your priests, LORD God, be clothed with salvation, and may your faithful people rejoice in goodness.

⁴²LORD God, do not reject your anointed one; remember the promises to your servant David.

¹Then the LORD said to me, “Go again; show love to a woman who is loved by another man and is an adulteress, just as the LORD loves the Israelites though they turn to other gods and love raisin cakes.”

²So I bought her for fifteen shekels of silver and five bushels of barley.

³I said to her, “You are to live with me many days. You must not be promiscuous or belong to any man, and I will act the same way toward you.”

⁴For the Israelites must live many days without king or prince, without sacrifice or sacred pillar, and without ephod or household idols.

⁵Afterward, the people of Israel will return and seek the LORD their God and David their king. They will come with awe to the LORD and to his goodness in the last days.

¹After this, he left Athens and went to Corinth,

²where he found a Jew named Aquila, a native of Pontus, who had recently come from Italy with his wife Priscilla because Claudius had ordered all the Jews to leave Rome. Paul came to them,

³and since they were of the same occupation, tentmakers by trade, he stayed with them and worked.

⁴He reasoned in the synagogue every Sabbath and tried to persuade both Jews and Greeks.

⁵When Silas and Timothy arrived from Macedonia, Paul devoted himself to preaching the word and testified to the Jews that Jesus is the Messiah.

⁶When they resisted and blasphemed, he shook out his clothes and told them, “Your blood is on your own heads! I am innocent. From now on I will go to the Gentiles.”

⁷So he left there and went to the house of a man named Titius Justus, a worshiper of God, whose house was next door to the synagogue.

⁸Crispus, the leader of the synagogue, believed in the Lord, along with his whole household. Many of the Corinthians, when they heard, believed and were baptized.

⁹The Lord said to Paul in a night vision, “Don’t be afraid, but keep on speaking and don’t be silent.

¹⁰For I am with you, and no one will lay a hand on you to hurt you, because I have many people in this city.”

¹¹He stayed there a year and a half, teaching the word of God among them.

¹²While Gallio was proconsul of Achaia, the Jews made a united attack against Paul and brought him to the tribunal.

¹³“This man,” they said, “is persuading people to worship God in ways contrary to the law.”

¹⁴As Paul was about to open his mouth, Gallio said to the Jews, “If it were a matter of wrongdoing or of a serious crime, it would be reasonable for me to put up with you Jews.

¹⁵But if these are questions about words, names, and your own law, see to it yourselves. I refuse to be a judge of such things.”

¹⁶So he drove them from the tribunal.

¹⁷And they all seized Sosthenes, the leader of the synagogue, and beat him in front of the tribunal, but none of these things mattered to Gallio.

¹⁸After staying for some time, Paul said farewell to the brothers and sisters and sailed away to Syria, accompanied by Priscilla and Aquila. He shaved his head at Cenchreae because of a vow he had taken.

¹⁹When they reached Ephesus he left them there, but he himself entered the synagogue and debated with the Jews.

²⁰When they asked him to stay for a longer time, he declined,

²¹but he said farewell and added, “I’ll come back to you again, if God wills.” Then he set sail from Ephesus.

²²On landing at Caesarea, he went up to Jerusalem and greeted the church, then went down to Antioch.

²³After spending some time there, he set out, traveling through one place after another in the region of Galatia and Phrygia, strengthening all the disciples.

²⁴Now a Jew named Apollos, a native Alexandrian, an eloquent man who was competent in the use of the Scriptures, arrived in Ephesus.

²⁵He had been instructed in the way of the Lord; and being fervent in spirit, he was speaking and teaching accurately about Jesus, although he knew only John’s baptism.

²⁶He began to speak boldly in the synagogue. After Priscilla and Aquila heard him, they took him aside and explained the way of God to him more accurately.

²⁷When he wanted to cross over to Achaia, the brothers and sisters wrote to the disciples to welcome him. After he arrived, he was a great help to those who by grace had believed.

²⁸For he vigorously refuted the Jews in public, demonstrating through the Scriptures that Jesus is the Messiah.