Professor Horner’s Reading Plan

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

²And behold, a leper came to him and knelt before him, saying, “Lord, if you will, you can make me clean.”

³And Jesus stretched out his hand and touched him, saying, “I will; be clean.” And immediately his leprosy was cleansed.

⁴And Jesus said to him, “See that you say nothing to anyone, but go, show yourself to the priest and offer the gift that Moses commanded, for a proof to them.”

⁵When he had entered Capernaum, a centurion came forward to him, appealing to him,

⁶“Lord, my servant is lying paralyzed at home, suffering terribly.”

⁷And he said to him, “I will come and heal him.”

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

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

¹⁰When Jesus heard this, he marveled and said to those who followed him, “Truly, I tell you, with no one in Israel have I found such faith.

¹¹I tell you, many will come from east and west and recline at table with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven,

¹² while the sons of the kingdom will be thrown into the outer darkness. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”

¹³And to the centurion Jesus said, “Go; let it be done for you as you have believed.” And the servant was healed at that very moment.

¹⁴And when Jesus entered Peter's house, he saw his mother-in-law lying sick with a fever.

¹⁵He touched her hand, and the fever left her, and she rose and began to serve him.

¹⁶That evening they brought to him many who were oppressed by demons, and he cast out the spirits with a word and healed all who were sick.

¹⁷This was to fulfill what was spoken by the prophet Isaiah: “He took our illnesses and bore our diseases.”

¹⁸Now when Jesus saw a crowd around him, he gave orders to go over to the other side.

¹⁹And a scribe came up and said to him, “Teacher, I will follow you wherever you go.”

²⁰And Jesus said to him, “Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head.”

²¹Another of the disciples said to him, “Lord, let me first go and bury my father.”

²²And Jesus said to him, “Follow me, and leave the dead to bury their own dead.”

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

²⁴And behold, there arose a great storm on the sea, so that the boat was being swamped by the waves; but he was asleep.

²⁵And they went and woke him, saying, “Save us, Lord; we are perishing.”

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

²⁷And the men marveled, saying, “What sort of man is this, that even winds and sea obey him?”

²⁸And when he came to the other side, to the country of the Gadarenes, two demon-possessed men met him, coming out of the tombs, so fierce that no one could pass that way.

²⁹And behold, they cried out, “What have you to do with us, O Son of God? Have you come here to torment us before the time?”

³⁰Now a herd of many pigs was feeding at some distance from them.

³¹And the demons begged him, saying, “If you cast us out, send us away into the herd of pigs.”

³²And he said to them, “Go.” So they came out and went into the pigs, and behold, the whole herd rushed down the steep bank into the sea and drowned in the waters.

³³The herdsmen fled, and going into the city they told everything, especially what had happened to the demon-possessed men.

³⁴And behold, all the city came out to meet Jesus, and when they saw him, they begged him to leave their region.

¹This is the blessing with which Moses the man of God blessed the people of Israel before his death.

²He said, “The LORD came from Sinai and dawned from Seir upon us; he shone forth from Mount Paran; he came from the ten thousands of holy ones, with flaming fire at his right hand.

³Yes, he loved his people, all his holy ones were in his hand; so they followed in your steps, receiving direction from you,

⁴when Moses commanded us a law, as a possession for the assembly of Jacob.

⁵Thus the LORD became king in Jeshurun, when the heads of the people were gathered, all the tribes of Israel together.

⁶“Let Reuben live, and not die, but let his men be few.”

⁷And this he said of Judah: “Hear, O LORD, the voice of Judah, and bring him in to his people. With your hands contend for him, and be a help against his adversaries.”

⁸And of Levi he said, “Give to Levi your Thummim, and your Urim to your godly one, whom you tested at Massah, with whom you quarreled at the waters of Meribah;

⁹who said of his father and mother, ‘I regard them not’; he disowned his brothers and ignored his children. For they observed your word and kept your covenant.

¹⁰They shall teach Jacob your rules and Israel your law; they shall put incense before you and whole burnt offerings on your altar.

¹¹Bless, O LORD, his substance, and accept the work of his hands; crush the loins of his adversaries, of those who hate him, that they rise not again.”

¹²Of Benjamin he said, “The beloved of the LORD dwells in safety. The High God surrounds him all day long, and dwells between his shoulders.”

¹³And of Joseph he said, “Blessed by the LORD be his land, with the choicest gifts of heaven above, and of the deep that crouches beneath,

¹⁴with the choicest fruits of the sun and the rich yield of the months,

¹⁵with the finest produce of the ancient mountains and the abundance of the everlasting hills,

¹⁶with the best gifts of the earth and its fullness and the favor of him who dwells in the bush. May these rest on the head of Joseph, on the pate of him who is prince among his brothers.

¹⁷A firstborn bull — he has majesty, and his horns are the horns of a wild ox; with them he shall gore the peoples, all of them, to the ends of the earth; they are the ten thousands of Ephraim, and they are the thousands of Manasseh.”

¹⁸And of Zebulun he said, “Rejoice, Zebulun, in your going out, and Issachar, in your tents.

¹⁹They shall call peoples to their mountain; there they offer right sacrifices; for they draw from the abundance of the seas and the hidden treasures of the sand.”

²⁰And of Gad he said, “Blessed be he who enlarges Gad! Gad crouches like a lion; he tears off arm and scalp.

²¹He chose the best of the land for himself, for there a commander's portion was reserved; and he came with the heads of the people, with Israel he executed the justice of the LORD, and his judgments for Israel.”

²²And of Dan he said, “Dan is a lion's cub that leaps from Bashan.”

²³And of Naphtali he said, “O Naphtali, sated with favor, and full of the blessing of the LORD, possess the lake and the south.”

²⁴And of Asher he said, “Most blessed of sons be Asher; let him be the favorite of his brothers, and let him dip his foot in oil.

²⁵Your bars shall be iron and bronze, and as your days, so shall your strength be.

²⁶“There is none like God, O Jeshurun, who rides through the heavens to your help, through the skies in his majesty.

²⁷The eternal God is your dwelling place, and underneath are the everlasting arms. And he thrust out the enemy before you and said, ‘Destroy.’

²⁸So Israel lived in safety, Jacob lived alone, in a land of grain and wine, whose heavens drop down dew.

²⁹Happy are you, O Israel! Who is like you, a people saved by the LORD, the shield of your help, and the sword of your triumph! Your enemies shall come fawning to you, and you shall tread upon their backs.”

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

²For one who speaks in a tongue speaks not to men but to God; for no one understands him, but he utters mysteries in the Spirit.

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

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

⁵Now I want you all to speak in tongues, but even more to prophesy. The one who prophesies is greater than the one who speaks in tongues, unless someone interprets, so that the church may be built up.

⁶Now, brothers, if I come to you speaking in tongues, how will I benefit you unless I bring you some revelation or knowledge or prophecy or teaching?

⁷If even lifeless instruments, such as the flute or the harp, do not give distinct notes, how will anyone know what is played?

⁸And if the bugle gives an indistinct sound, who will get ready for battle?

⁹So with yourselves, if with your tongue you utter speech that is not intelligible, how will anyone know what is said? For you will be speaking into the air.

¹⁰There are doubtless many different languages in the world, and none is without meaning,

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

¹²So with yourselves, since you are eager for manifestations of the Spirit, strive to excel in building up the church.

¹³Therefore, one who speaks in a tongue should pray that he may interpret.

¹⁴For if I pray in a tongue, my spirit prays but my mind is unfruitful.

¹⁵What am I to do? I will pray with my spirit, but I will pray with my mind also; I will sing praise with my spirit, but I will sing with my mind also.

¹⁶Otherwise, if you give thanks with your spirit, how can anyone in the position of an outsider say “Amen” to your thanksgiving when he does not know what you are saying?

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

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

¹⁹Nevertheless, in church I would rather speak five words with my mind in order to instruct others, than ten thousand words in a tongue.

²⁰Brothers, do not be children in your thinking. Be infants in evil, but in your thinking be mature.

²¹In the Law it is written, “By people of strange tongues and by the lips of foreigners will I speak to this people, and even then they will not listen to me, says the Lord.”

²²Thus tongues are a sign not for believers but for unbelievers, while prophecy is a sign not for unbelievers but for believers.

²³If, therefore, the whole church comes together and all speak in tongues, and outsiders or unbelievers enter, will they not say that you are out of your minds?

²⁴But if all prophesy, and an unbeliever or outsider enters, he is convicted by all, he is called to account by all,

²⁵the secrets of his heart are disclosed, and so, falling on his face, he will worship God and declare that God is really among you.

²⁶What then, brothers? When you come together, each one has a hymn, a lesson, a revelation, a tongue, or an interpretation. Let all things be done for building up.

²⁷If any speak in a tongue, let there be only two or at most three, and each in turn, and let someone interpret.

²⁸But if there is no one to interpret, let each of them keep silent in church and speak to himself and to God.

²⁹Let two or three prophets speak, and let the others weigh what is said.

³⁰If a revelation is made to another sitting there, let the first be silent.

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

³²and the spirits of prophets are subject to prophets.

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

³⁴the women should keep silent in the churches. For they are not permitted to speak, but should be in submission, as the Law also says.

³⁵If there is anything they desire to learn, let them ask their husbands at home. For it is shameful for a woman to speak in church.

³⁶Or was it from you that the word of God came? Or are you the only ones it has reached?

³⁷If anyone thinks that he is a prophet, or spiritual, he should acknowledge that the things I am writing to you are a command of the Lord.

³⁸If anyone does not recognize this, he is not recognized.

³⁹So, my brothers, earnestly desire to prophesy, and do not forbid speaking in tongues.

⁴⁰But all things should be done decently and in order.

¹And I saw a beast rising out of the sea, with ten horns and seven heads, with ten diadems on its horns and blasphemous names on its heads.

²And the beast that I saw was like a leopard; its feet were like a bear's, and its mouth was like a lion's mouth. And to it the dragon gave his power and his throne and great authority.

³One of its heads seemed to have a mortal wound, but its mortal wound was healed, and the whole earth marveled as they followed the beast.

⁴And they worshiped the dragon, for he had given his authority to the beast, and they worshiped the beast, saying, “Who is like the beast, and who can fight against it?”

⁵And the beast was given a mouth uttering haughty and blasphemous words, and it was allowed to exercise authority for forty-two months.

⁶It opened its mouth to utter blasphemies against God, blaspheming his name and his dwelling, that is, those who dwell in heaven.

⁷Also it was allowed to make war on the saints and to conquer them. And authority was given it over every tribe and people and language and nation,

⁸and all who dwell on earth will worship it, everyone whose name has not been written before the foundation of the world in the book of life of the Lamb who was slain.

⁹If anyone has an ear, let him hear:

¹⁰If anyone is to be taken captive, to captivity he goes; if anyone is to be slain with the sword, with the sword must he be slain. Here is a call for the endurance and faith of the saints.

¹¹Then I saw another beast rising out of the earth. It had two horns like a lamb and it spoke like a dragon.

¹²It exercises all the authority of the first beast in its presence, and makes the earth and its inhabitants worship the first beast, whose mortal wound was healed.

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

¹⁴and by the signs that it is allowed to work in the presence of the beast it deceives those who dwell on earth, telling them to make an image for the beast that was wounded by the sword and yet lived.

¹⁵And it was allowed to give breath to the image of the beast, so that the image of the beast might even speak and might cause those who would not worship the image of the beast to be slain.

¹⁶Also it causes all, both small and great, both rich and poor, both free and slave, to be marked on the right hand or the forehead,

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

¹⁸This calls for wisdom: let the one who has understanding calculate the number of the beast, for it is the number of a man, and his number is 666.

¹Oh that you were like a brother to me who nursed at my mother's breasts! If I found you outside, I would kiss you, and none would despise me.

²I would lead you and bring you into the house of my mother — she who used to teach me. I would give you spiced wine to drink, the juice of my pomegranate.

³His left hand is under my head, and his right hand embraces me!

⁴I adjure you, O daughters of Jerusalem, that you not stir up or awaken love until it pleases.

⁵Who is that coming up from the wilderness, leaning on her beloved? Under the apple tree I awakened you. There your mother was in labor with you; there she who bore you was in labor.

⁶Set me as a seal upon your heart, as a seal upon your arm, for love is strong as death, jealousy is fierce as the grave. Its flashes are flashes of fire, the very flame of the LORD.

⁷Many waters cannot quench love, neither can floods drown it. If a man offered for love all the wealth of his house, he would be utterly despised.

⁸We have a little sister, and she has no breasts. What shall we do for our sister on the day when she is spoken for?

⁹If she is a wall, we will build on her a battlement of silver, but if she is a door, we will enclose her with boards of cedar.

¹⁰I was a wall, and my breasts were like towers; then I was in his eyes as one who finds peace.

¹¹Solomon had a vineyard at Baal-hamon; he let out the vineyard to keepers; each one was to bring for its fruit a thousand pieces of silver.

¹²My vineyard, my very own, is before me; you, O Solomon, may have the thousand, and the keepers of the fruit two hundred.

¹³O you who dwell in the gardens, with companions listening for your voice; let me hear it.

¹⁴Make haste, my beloved, and be like a gazelle or a young stag on the mountains of spices.

¹Transgression speaks to the wicked deep in his heart; there is no fear of God before his eyes.

²For he flatters himself in his own eyes that his iniquity cannot be found out and hated.

³The words of his mouth are trouble and deceit; he has ceased to act wisely and do good.

⁴He plots trouble while on his bed; he sets himself in a way that is not good; he does not reject evil.

⁵Your steadfast love, O LORD, extends to the heavens, your faithfulness to the clouds.

⁶Your righteousness is like the mountains of God; your judgments are like the great deep; man and beast you save, O LORD.

⁷How precious is your steadfast love, O God! The children of mankind take refuge in the shadow of your wings.

⁸They feast on the abundance of your house, and you give them drink from the river of your delights.

⁹For with you is the fountain of life; in your light do we see light.

¹⁰Oh, continue your steadfast love to those who know you, and your righteousness to the upright of heart!

¹¹Let not the foot of arrogance come upon me, nor the hand of the wicked drive me away.

¹²There the evildoers lie fallen; they are thrust down, unable to rise.

¹The words of King Lemuel. An oracle that his mother taught him:

²What are you doing, my son? What are you doing, son of my womb? What are you doing, son of my vows?

³Do not give your strength to women, your ways to those who destroy kings.

⁴It is not for kings, O Lemuel, it is not for kings to drink wine, or for rulers to take strong drink,

⁵lest they drink and forget what has been decreed and pervert the rights of all the afflicted.

⁶Give strong drink to the one who is perishing, and wine to those in bitter distress;

⁷let them drink and forget their poverty and remember their misery no more.

⁸Open your mouth for the mute, for the rights of all who are destitute.

⁹Open your mouth, judge righteously, defend the rights of the poor and needy.

¹⁰An excellent wife who can find? She is far more precious than jewels.

¹¹The heart of her husband trusts in her, and he will have no lack of gain.

¹²She does him good, and not harm, all the days of her life.

¹³She seeks wool and flax, and works with willing hands.

¹⁴She is like the ships of the merchant; she brings her food from afar.

¹⁵She rises while it is yet night and provides food for her household and portions for her maidens.

¹⁶She considers a field and buys it; with the fruit of her hands she plants a vineyard.

¹⁷She dresses herself with strength and makes her arms strong.

¹⁸She perceives that her merchandise is profitable. Her lamp does not go out at night.

¹⁹She puts her hands to the distaff, and her hands hold the spindle.

²⁰She opens her hand to the poor and reaches out her hands to the needy.

²¹She is not afraid of snow for her household, for all her household are clothed in scarlet.

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

²³Her husband is known in the gates when he sits among the elders of the land.

²⁴She makes linen garments and sells them; she delivers sashes to the merchant.

²⁵Strength and dignity are her clothing, and she laughs at the time to come.

²⁶She opens her mouth with wisdom, and the teaching of kindness is on her tongue.

²⁷She looks well to the ways of her household and does not eat the bread of idleness.

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

²⁹“Many women have done excellently, but you surpass them all.”

³⁰Charm is deceitful, and beauty is vain, but a woman who fears the LORD is to be praised.

³¹Give her of the fruit of her hands, and let her works praise her in the gates.

¹Then Solomon said, “The LORD has said that he would dwell in thick darkness.

²But I have built you an exalted house, a place for you to dwell in forever.”

³Then the king turned around and blessed all the assembly of Israel, while all the assembly of Israel stood.

⁴And he said, “Blessed be the LORD, the God of Israel, who with his hand has fulfilled what he promised with his mouth to David my father, saying,

⁵‘Since the day that I brought my people out of the land of Egypt, I chose no city out of all the tribes of Israel in which to build a house, that my name might be there, and I chose no man as prince over my people Israel;

⁶but I have chosen Jerusalem that my name may be there, and I have chosen David to be over my people Israel.’

⁷Now it was in the heart of David my father to build a house for the name of the LORD, the God of Israel.

⁸But the LORD said to David my father, ‘Whereas it was in your heart to build a house for my name, you did well that it was in your heart.

⁹Nevertheless, it is not you who shall build the house, but your son who shall be born to you shall build the house for my name.’

¹⁰Now the LORD has fulfilled his promise that he made. For I have risen in the place of David my father and sit on the throne of Israel, as the LORD promised, and I have built the house for the name of the LORD, the God of Israel.

¹¹And there I have set the ark, in which is the covenant of the LORD that he made with the people of Israel.”

¹²Then Solomon stood before the altar of the LORD in the presence of all the assembly of Israel and spread out his hands.

¹³Solomon had made a bronze platform five cubits long, five cubits wide, and three cubits high, and had set it in the court, and he stood on it. Then he knelt on his knees in the presence of all the assembly of Israel, and spread out his hands toward heaven,

¹⁴and said, “O LORD, God of Israel, there is no God like you, in heaven or on earth, keeping covenant and showing steadfast love to your servants who walk before you with all their heart,

¹⁵who have kept with your servant David my father what you declared to him. You spoke with your mouth, and with your hand have fulfilled it this day.

¹⁶Now therefore, O LORD, God of Israel, keep for your servant David my father what you have promised him, saying, ‘You shall not lack a man to sit before me on the throne of Israel, if only your sons pay close attention to their way, to walk in my law as you have walked before me.’

¹⁷Now therefore, O LORD, God of Israel, let your word be confirmed, which you have spoken to your servant David.

¹⁸“But will God indeed dwell with man on the earth? Behold, heaven and the highest heaven cannot contain you, how much less this house that I have built!

¹⁹Yet have regard to the prayer of your servant and to his plea, O LORD my God, listening to the cry and to the prayer that your servant prays before you,

²⁰that your eyes may be open day and night toward this house, the place where you have promised to set your name, that you may listen to the prayer that your servant offers toward this place.

²¹And listen to the pleas of your servant and of your people Israel, when they pray toward this place. And listen from heaven your dwelling place, and when you hear, forgive.

²²“If a man sins against his neighbor and is made to take an oath and comes and swears his oath before your altar in this house,

²³then hear from heaven and act and judge your servants, repaying the guilty by bringing his conduct on his own head, and vindicating the righteous by rewarding him according to his righteousness.

²⁴“If your people Israel are defeated before the enemy because they have sinned against you, and they turn again and acknowledge your name and pray and plead with you in this house,

²⁵then hear from heaven and forgive the sin of your people Israel and bring them again to the land that you gave to them and to their fathers.

²⁶“When heaven is shut up and there is no rain because they have sinned against you, if they pray toward this place and acknowledge your name and turn from their sin, when you afflict them,

²⁷then hear in heaven and forgive the sin of your servants, your people Israel, when you teach them the good way in which they should walk, and grant rain upon your land, which you have given to your people as an inheritance.

²⁸“If there is famine in the land, if there is pestilence or blight or mildew or locust or caterpillar, if their enemies besiege them in the land at their gates, whatever plague, whatever sickness there is,

²⁹whatever prayer, whatever plea is made by any man or by all your people Israel, each knowing his own affliction and his own sorrow and stretching out his hands toward this house,

³⁰then hear from heaven your dwelling place and forgive and render to each whose heart you know, according to all his ways, for you, you only, know the hearts of the children of mankind,

³¹that they may fear you and walk in your ways all the days that they live in the land that you gave to our fathers.

³²“Likewise, when a foreigner, who is not of your people Israel, comes from a far country for the sake of your great name and your mighty hand and your outstretched arm, when he comes and prays toward this house,

³³hear from heaven your dwelling place and do according to all for which the foreigner calls to you, in order that all the peoples of the earth may know your name and fear you, as do your people Israel, and that they may know that this house that I have built is called by your name.

³⁴“If your people go out to battle against their enemies, by whatever way you shall send them, and they pray to you toward this city that you have chosen and the house that I have built for your name,

³⁵then hear from heaven their prayer and their plea, and maintain their cause.

³⁶“If they sin against you — for there is no one who does not sin — and you are angry with them and give them to an enemy, so that they are carried away captive to a land far or near,

³⁷yet if they turn their heart in the land to which they have been carried captive, and repent and plead with you in the land of their captivity, saying, ‘We have sinned and have acted perversely and wickedly,’

³⁸if they repent with all their heart and with all their soul in the land of their captivity to which they were carried captive, and pray toward their land, which you gave to their fathers, the city that you have chosen and the house that I have built for your name,

³⁹then hear from heaven your dwelling place their prayer and their pleas, and maintain their cause and forgive your people who have sinned against you.

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

⁴¹“And now arise, O LORD God, and go to your resting place, you and the ark of your might. Let your priests, O LORD God, be clothed with salvation, and let your saints rejoice in your goodness.

⁴²O LORD God, do not turn away the face of your anointed one! Remember your steadfast love for David your servant.”

¹And the LORD said to me, “Go again, love a woman who is loved by another man and is an adulteress, even as the LORD loves the children of Israel, though they turn to other gods and love cakes of raisins.”

²So I bought her for fifteen shekels of silver and a homer and a lethech of barley.

³And I said to her, “You must dwell as mine for many days. You shall not play the whore, or belong to another man; so will I also be to you.”

⁴For the children of Israel shall dwell many days without king or prince, without sacrifice or pillar, without ephod or household gods.

⁵Afterward the children of Israel shall return and seek the LORD their God, and David their king, and they shall come in fear to the LORD and to his goodness in the latter days.

¹After this Paul left Athens and went to Corinth.

²And he found a Jew named Aquila, a native of Pontus, recently come from Italy with his wife Priscilla, because Claudius had commanded all the Jews to leave Rome. And he went to see them,

³and because he was of the same trade he stayed with them and worked, for they were tentmakers by trade.

⁴And he reasoned in the synagogue every Sabbath, and tried to persuade Jews and Greeks.

⁵When Silas and Timothy arrived from Macedonia, Paul was occupied with the word, testifying to the Jews that the Christ was Jesus.

⁶And when they opposed and reviled him, he shook out his garments and said to them, “Your blood be on your own heads! I am innocent. From now on I will go to the Gentiles.”

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

⁸Crispus, the ruler of the synagogue, believed in the Lord, together with his entire household. And many of the Corinthians hearing Paul believed and were baptized.

⁹And the Lord said to Paul one night in a vision, “Do not be afraid, but go on speaking and do not be silent,

¹⁰ for I am with you, and no one will attack you to harm you, for I have many in this city who are my people.”

¹¹And he stayed a year and six months, teaching the word of God among them.

¹²But when Gallio was proconsul of Achaia, the Jews made a united attack on Paul and brought him before the tribunal,

¹³saying, “This man is persuading people to worship God contrary to the law.”

¹⁴But when Paul was about to open his mouth, Gallio said to the Jews, “If it were a matter of wrongdoing or vicious crime, O Jews, I would have reason to accept your complaint.

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

¹⁶And he drove them from the tribunal.

¹⁷And they all seized Sosthenes, the ruler of the synagogue, and beat him in front of the tribunal. But Gallio paid no attention to any of this.

¹⁸After this, Paul stayed many days longer and then took leave of the brothers and set sail for Syria, and with him Priscilla and Aquila. At Cenchreae he had cut his hair, for he was under a vow.

¹⁹And they came to Ephesus, and he left them there, but he himself went into the synagogue and reasoned with the Jews.

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

²¹But on taking leave of them he said, “I will return to you if God wills,” and he set sail from Ephesus.

²²When he had landed at Caesarea, he went up and greeted the church, and then went down to Antioch.

²³After spending some time there, he departed and went from one place to the next through the region of Galatia and Phrygia, strengthening all the disciples.

²⁴Now a Jew named Apollos, a native of Alexandria, came to Ephesus. He was an eloquent man, competent in the Scriptures.

²⁵He had been instructed in the way of the Lord. And being fervent in spirit, he spoke and taught accurately the things concerning Jesus, though he knew only the baptism of John.

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

²⁷And when he wished to cross to Achaia, the brothers encouraged him and wrote to the disciples to welcome him. When he arrived, he greatly helped those who through grace had believed,

²⁸for he powerfully refuted the Jews in public, showing by the Scriptures that the Christ was Jesus.