Professor Horner’s Reading Plan

¹When Jesus had come down from the mountain, great crowds followed him;

²and there was a leper who came to him and knelt before him, saying, “Lord, if you choose, you can make me clean.”

³He stretched out his hand and touched him, saying, “I do choose. Be made clean!” Immediately his leprosy was cleansed.

⁴Then 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, as a testimony to them.”

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

⁶and saying, “Lord, my servant is lying at home paralyzed, in terrible distress.”

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

⁸The centurion answered, “Lord, I am not worthy to have you come under my roof; but only speak the word, and my servant will be healed.

⁹For I also 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 slave, ‘Do this,’ and the slave does it.”

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

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

¹²while the heirs of the kingdom will be thrown into the outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”

¹³And to the centurion Jesus said, “Go; let it be done for you according to your faith.” And the servant was healed in that hour.

¹⁴When Jesus entered Peter’s house, he saw his mother-in-law lying in bed with a fever;

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

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

¹⁷This was to fulfill what had been spoken through the prophet Isaiah, “He took our infirmities and bore our diseases.”

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

¹⁹A scribe then approached and said, “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 his disciples said to him, “Lord, first let me go and bury my father.”

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

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

²⁴A windstorm arose on the sea, so great that the boat was being swamped by the waves; but he was asleep.

²⁵And they went and woke him up, saying, “Lord, save us! We are perishing!”

²⁶And he 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 dead calm.

²⁷They were amazed, saying, “What sort of man is this, that even the winds and the sea obey him?”

²⁸When he came to the other side, to the country of the Gadarenes, two demoniacs coming out of the tombs met him. They were so fierce that no one could pass that way.

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

³⁰Now a large herd of swine was feeding at some distance from them.

³¹The demons begged him, “If you cast us out, send us into the herd of swine.”

³²And he said to them, “Go!” So they came out and entered the swine; and suddenly, the whole herd rushed down the steep bank into the sea and perished in the water.

³³The swineherds ran off, and on going into the town, they told the whole story about what had happened to the demoniacs.

³⁴Then the whole town came out to meet Jesus; and when they saw him, they begged him to leave their neighborhood.

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

²He said: The LORD came from Sinai, and dawned from Seir upon us; he shone forth from Mount Paran. With him were myriads of holy ones; at his right, a host of his own.

³Indeed, O favorite among peoples, all his holy ones were in your charge; they marched at your heels, accepted direction from you.

⁴Moses charged us with the law, as a possession for the assembly of Jacob.

⁵There arose a king in Jeshurun, when the leaders of the people assembled — the united tribes of Israel.

⁶May Reuben live, and not die out, even though his numbers are few.

⁷And this he said of Judah: O LORD, give heed to Judah, and bring him to his people; strengthen his hands for him, and be a help against his adversaries.

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

⁹who said of his father and mother, “I regard them not”; he ignored his kin, and did not acknowledge his children. For they observed your word, and kept your covenant.

¹⁰They teach Jacob your ordinances, and Israel your law; they place 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 that hate him, so that they do not rise again.

¹²Of Benjamin he said: The beloved of the LORD rests in safety — the High God surrounds him all day long — the beloved rests between his shoulders.

¹³And of Joseph he said: Blessed by the LORD be his land, with the choice gifts of heaven above, and of the deep that lies beneath;

¹⁴with the choice 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 choice gifts of the earth and its fullness, and the favor of the one who dwells on Sinai. Let these come on the head of Joseph, on the brow of the prince among his brothers.

¹⁷A firstborn bull — majesty is his! His horns are the horns of a wild ox; with them he gores the peoples, driving them to the ends of the earth; such are the myriads of Ephraim, such the thousands of Manasseh.

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

¹⁹They call peoples to the mountain; there they offer the right sacrifices; for they suck the affluence of the seas and the hidden treasures of the sand.

²⁰And of Gad he said: Blessed be the enlargement of Gad! Gad lives like a lion; he tears at arm and scalp.

²¹He chose the best for himself, for there a commander’s allotment was reserved; he came at the head of the people, he executed the justice of the LORD, and his ordinances for Israel.

²²And of Dan he said: Dan is a lion’s whelp that leaps forth from Bashan.

²³And of Naphtali he said: O Naphtali, sated with favor, full of the blessing of the LORD, possess the west and the south.

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

²⁵Your bars are iron and bronze; and as your days, so is your strength.

²⁶There is none like God, O Jeshurun, who rides through the heavens to your help, majestic through the skies.

²⁷He subdues the ancient gods, shatters the forces of old; he drove out the enemy before you, and said, “Destroy!”

²⁸So Israel lives in safety, untroubled is Jacob’s abode in a land of grain and wine, where the 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 on their backs.

¹Pursue love and strive for the spiritual gifts, and especially that you may prophesy.

²For those who speak in a tongue do not speak to other people but to God; for nobody understands them, since they are speaking mysteries in the Spirit.

³On the other hand, those who prophesy speak to other people for their upbuilding and encouragement and consolation.

⁴Those who speak in a tongue build up themselves, but those who prophesy build up the church.

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

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

⁷It is the same way with lifeless instruments that produce sound, such as the flute or the harp. If they do not give distinct notes, how will anyone know what is being played?

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

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

¹⁰There are doubtless many different kinds of sounds in the world, and nothing is without sound.

¹¹If then I do not know the meaning of a sound, I will be a foreigner to the speaker and the speaker a foreigner to me.

¹²So with yourselves; since you are eager for spiritual gifts, strive to excel in them for building up the church.

¹³Therefore, one who speaks in a tongue should pray for the power to interpret.

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

¹⁵What should I do then? I will pray with the spirit, but I will pray with the mind also; I will sing praise with the spirit, but I will sing praise with the mind also.

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

¹⁷For you may give thanks well enough, but the other person is not 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 also, than ten thousand words in a tongue.

²⁰Brothers and sisters, do not be children in your thinking; rather, be infants in evil, but in thinking be adults.

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

²²Tongues, then, are a sign not for believers but for unbelievers, while prophecy is 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 mind?

²⁴But if all prophesy, an unbeliever or outsider who enters is reproved by all and called to account by all.

²⁵After the secrets of the unbeliever’s heart are disclosed, that person will bow down before God and worship him, declaring, “God is really among you.”

²⁶What should be done then, my friends? 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 anyone speaks in a tongue, let there be only two or at most three, and each in turn; and let one interpret.

²⁸But if there is no one to interpret, let them be silent in church and speak to themselves and to God.

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

³⁰If a revelation is made to someone else sitting nearby, let the first person 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 the prophets,

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

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

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

³⁶Or did the word of God originate with you? Or are you the only ones it has reached?)

³⁷Anyone who claims to be a prophet, or to have spiritual powers, must acknowledge that what I am writing to you is a command of the Lord.

³⁸Anyone who does not recognize this is not to be recognized.

³⁹So, my friends, be eager 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, having ten horns and seven heads; and on its horns were ten diadems, and on its heads were blasphemous names.

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 the dragon gave it his power and his throne and great authority.

³One of its heads seemed to have received a death-blow, but its mortal wound had been healed. In amazement the whole earth followed the beast.

⁴They 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?”

⁵The 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. It was given authority over every tribe and people and language and nation,

⁸and all the inhabitants of the earth will worship it, everyone whose name has not been written from the foundation of the world in the book of life of the Lamb that was slaughtered.

⁹Let anyone who has an ear listen:

¹⁰If you are to be taken captive, into captivity you go; if you kill with the sword, with the sword you must be killed. Here is a call for the endurance and faith of the saints.

¹¹Then I saw another beast that rose 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 on its behalf, and it makes the earth and its inhabitants worship the first beast, whose mortal wound had been healed.

¹³It performs great signs, even making fire come down from heaven to earth in the sight of all;

¹⁴and by the signs that it is allowed to perform on behalf of the beast, it deceives the inhabitants of earth, telling them to make an image for the beast that had been 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 could even speak and cause those who would not worship the image of the beast to be killed.

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 who does not have the mark, that is, the name of the beast or the number of its name.

¹⁸This calls for wisdom: let anyone with understanding calculate the number of the beast, for it is the number of a person. Its number is six hundred sixty-six.

¹O that you were like a brother to me, who nursed at my mother’s breast! If I met you outside, I would kiss you, and no one would despise me.

²I would lead you and bring you into the house of my mother, and into the chamber of the one who bore me. I would give you spiced wine to drink, the juice of my pomegranates.

³O that his left hand were under my head, and that his right hand embraced me!

⁴I adjure you, O daughters of Jerusalem, do not stir up or awaken love until it is ready!

⁵Who is that coming up from the wilderness, leaning upon 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, passion fierce as the grave. Its flashes are flashes of fire, a raging flame.

⁷Many waters cannot quench love, neither can floods drown it. If one offered for love all the wealth of one’s house, it would be utterly scorned.

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 upon 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 brings peace.

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

¹²My vineyard, my very own, is for myself; you, O Solomon, may have the thousand, and the keepers of the fruit two hundred!

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

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

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

²For they flatter themselves in their own eyes that their iniquity cannot be found out and hated.

³The words of their mouths are mischief and deceit; they have ceased to act wisely and do good.

⁴They plot mischief while on their beds; they are set on a way that is not good; they do not reject evil.

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

⁶Your righteousness is like the mighty mountains, your judgments are like the great deep; you save humans and animals alike, O LORD.

⁷How precious is your steadfast love, O God! All people may 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 we see light.

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

¹¹Do not let the foot of the arrogant tread on me, or the hand of the wicked drive me away.

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

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

²No, my son! No, son of my womb! No, 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 desire strong drink;

⁵or else they will drink and forget what has been decreed, and will pervert the rights of all the afflicted.

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

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

⁸Speak out for those who cannot speak, for the rights of all the destitute.

⁹Speak out, judge righteously, defend the rights of the poor and needy.

¹⁰A capable 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 far away.

¹⁵She rises while it is still night and provides food for her household and tasks for her servant-girls.

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

¹⁷She girds 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 for her household when it snows, for all her household are clothed in crimson.

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

²³Her husband is known in the city gates, taking his seat among the elders of the land.

²⁴She makes linen garments and sells them; she supplies the merchant with sashes.

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 happy; her husband too, 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 a share in the fruit of her hands, and let her works praise her in the city gates.

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

²I have built you an exalted house, a place for you to reside 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 my father David, saying,

⁵‘Since the day that I brought my people out of the land of Egypt, I have not chosen a city from any of the tribes of Israel in which to build a house, so that my name might be there, and I chose no one as ruler over my people Israel;

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

⁷My father David had it in mind to build a house for the name of the LORD, the God of Israel.

⁸But the LORD said to my father David, ‘You did well to consider building a house for my name;

⁹nevertheless you shall not 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 succeeded my father David, and sit on the throne of Israel, as the LORD promised, and have built the house for the name of the LORD, the God of Israel.

¹¹There 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 the whole 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 the whole assembly of Israel, and spread out his hands toward heaven.

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

¹⁵you who have kept for your servant, my father David, what you promised to him. Indeed, you promised with your mouth and this day have fulfilled with your hand.

¹⁶Therefore, O LORD, God of Israel, keep for your servant, my father David, that which you promised him, saying, ‘There shall never fail you a successor before me to sit on the throne of Israel, if only your children keep to their way, to walk in my law as you have walked before me.’

¹⁷Therefore, O LORD, God of Israel, let your word be confirmed, which you promised to your servant David.

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

¹⁹Regard your servant’s prayer and his plea, O LORD my God, heeding the cry and the prayer that your servant prays to you.

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

²¹And hear the plea of your servant and of your people Israel, when they pray toward this place; may you hear from heaven your dwelling place; hear and forgive.

²²“If someone sins against another and is required to take an oath and comes and swears before your altar in this house,

²³may you hear from heaven, and act, and judge your servants, repaying the guilty by bringing their conduct on their own head, and vindicating those who are in the right by rewarding them in accordance with their righteousness.

²⁴“When your people Israel, having sinned against you, are defeated before an enemy but turn again to you, confess your name, pray and plead with you in this house,

²⁵may you 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 ancestors.

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

²⁷may you hear in heaven, forgive the sin of your servants, your people Israel, when you teach them the good way in which they should walk; and send down 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 plague, blight, mildew, locust, or caterpillar; if their enemies besiege them in any of the settlements of the lands; whatever suffering, whatever sickness there is;

²⁹whatever prayer, whatever plea from any individual or from all your people Israel, all knowing their own suffering and their own sorrows so that they stretch out their hands toward this house;

³⁰may you hear from heaven, your dwelling place, forgive, and render to all whose heart you know, according to all their ways, for only you know the human heart.

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

³²“Likewise when foreigners, who are not of your people Israel, come from a distant land because of your great name, and your mighty hand, and your outstretched arm, when they come and pray toward this house,

³³may you hear from heaven your dwelling place, and do whatever the foreigners ask of 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 your name has been invoked on this house that I have built.

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;

³⁷then if they come to their senses in the land to which they have been taken captive, and repent, and plead with you in the land of their captivity, saying, ‘We have sinned, and have done wrong; we have acted wickedly’;

³⁸if they repent with all their heart and soul in the land of their captivity, to which they were taken captive, and pray toward their land, which you gave to their ancestors, 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, 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 prayer from this place.

⁴¹“Now rise up, 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 faithful rejoice in your goodness.

⁴²O LORD God, do not reject your anointed one. Remember your steadfast love for your servant David.”

¹The LORD said to me again, “Go, love a woman who has a lover and is an adulteress, just as the LORD loves the people of Israel, though they turn to other gods and love raisin cakes.”

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

³And I said to her, “You must remain as mine for many days; you shall not play the whore, you shall not have intercourse with a man, nor I with you.”

⁴For the Israelites shall remain many days without king or prince, without sacrifice or pillar, without ephod or teraphim.

⁵Afterward the Israelites shall return and seek the LORD their God, and David their king; they shall come in awe to the LORD and to his goodness in the latter days.

¹After this Paul left Athens and went to Corinth.

²There 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 Jews to leave Rome. Paul went to see them,

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

⁴Every sabbath he would argue in the synagogue and would try to convince Jews and Greeks.

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

⁶When they opposed and reviled him, in protest he shook the dust from his clothes and said to them, “Your blood be on your own heads! I am innocent. From now on I will go to the Gentiles.”

⁷Then he left the synagogue 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 official of the synagogue, became a believer in the Lord, together with all his household; and many of the Corinthians who heard Paul became believers and were baptized.

⁹One night the Lord said to Paul in a vision, “Do not be afraid, but speak and do not be silent;

¹⁰for I am with you, and no one will lay a hand on you to harm you, for there are many in this city who are my people.”

¹¹He stayed there 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.

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

¹⁴Just as Paul was about to speak, Gallio said to the Jews, “If it were a matter of crime or serious villainy, I would be justified in accepting the complaint of you Jews;

¹⁵but since it is a matter of questions about words and names and your own law, see to it yourselves; I do not wish to be a judge of these matters.”

¹⁶And he dismissed them from the tribunal.

¹⁷Then all of them seized Sosthenes, the official of the synagogue, and beat him in front of the tribunal. But Gallio paid no attention to any of these things.

¹⁸After staying there for a considerable time, Paul said farewell to the believers and sailed for Syria, accompanied by Priscilla and Aquila. At Cenchreae he had his hair cut, for he was under a vow.

¹⁹When they reached Ephesus, he left them there, but first he himself went into the synagogue and had a discussion with the Jews.

²⁰When they asked him to stay longer, he declined;

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

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

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

²⁴Now there came to Ephesus a Jew named Apollos, a native of Alexandria. He was an eloquent man, well-versed in the scriptures.

²⁵He had been instructed in the Way of the Lord; and he spoke with burning enthusiasm 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 the Way of God to him more accurately.

²⁷And when he wished to cross over to Achaia, the believers encouraged him and wrote to the disciples to welcome him. On his arrival he greatly helped those who through grace had become believers,

²⁸for he powerfully refuted the Jews in public, showing by the scriptures that the Messiah is Jesus.