Professor Horner’s Reading Plan

¹And getting into a boat he crossed over and came to his own city.

²And behold, some people brought to him a paralytic, lying on a bed. And when Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, “Take heart, my son; your sins are forgiven.”

³And behold, some of the scribes said to themselves, “This man is blaspheming.”

⁴But Jesus, knowing their thoughts, said, “Why do you think evil in your hearts?

⁵For which is easier, to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Rise and walk’?

⁶But that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins” — he then said to the paralytic — “Rise, pick up your bed and go home.”

⁷And he rose and went home.

⁸When the crowds saw it, they were afraid, and they glorified God, who had given such authority to men.

⁹As Jesus passed on from there, he saw a man called Matthew sitting at the tax booth, and he said to him, “Follow me.” And he rose and followed him.

¹⁰And as Jesus reclined at table in the house, behold, many tax collectors and sinners came and were reclining with Jesus and his disciples.

¹¹And when the Pharisees saw this, they said to his disciples, “Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?”

¹²But when he heard it, he said, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick.

¹³Go and learn what this means: ‘I desire mercy, and not sacrifice.’ For I came not to call the righteous, but sinners.”

¹⁴Then the disciples of John came to him, saying, “Why do we and the Pharisees fast, but your disciples do not fast?”

¹⁵And Jesus said to them, “Can the wedding guests mourn as long as the bridegroom is with them? The days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and then they will fast.

¹⁶No one puts a piece of unshrunk cloth on an old garment, for the patch tears away from the garment, and a worse tear is made.

¹⁷Neither is new wine put into old wineskins. If it is, the skins burst and the wine is spilled and the skins are destroyed. But new wine is put into fresh wineskins, and so both are preserved.”

¹⁸While he was saying these things to them, behold, a ruler came in and knelt before him, saying, “My daughter has just died, but come and lay your hand on her, and she will live.”

¹⁹And Jesus rose and followed him, with his disciples.

²⁰And behold, a woman who had suffered from a discharge of blood for twelve years came up behind him and touched the fringe of his garment,

²¹for she said to herself, “If I only touch his garment, I will be made well.”

²²Jesus turned, and seeing her he said, “Take heart, daughter; your faith has made you well.” And instantly the woman was made well.

²³And when Jesus came to the ruler's house and saw the flute players and the crowd making a commotion,

²⁴he said, “Go away, for the girl is not dead but sleeping.” And they laughed at him.

²⁵But when the crowd had been put outside, he went in and took her by the hand, and the girl arose.

²⁶And the report of this went through all that district.

²⁷And as Jesus passed on from there, two blind men followed him, crying aloud, “Have mercy on us, Son of David.”

²⁸When he entered the house, the blind men came to him, and Jesus said to them, “Do you believe that I am able to do this?” They said to him, “Yes, Lord.”

²⁹Then he touched their eyes, saying, “According to your faith be it done to you.”

³⁰And their eyes were opened. And Jesus sternly warned them, “See that no one knows about it.”

³¹But they went away and spread his fame through all that district.

³²As they were going away, behold, a demon-oppressed man who was mute was brought to him.

³³And when the demon had been cast out, the mute man spoke. And the crowds marveled, saying, “Never was anything like this seen in Israel.”

³⁴But the Pharisees said, “He casts out demons by the prince of demons.”

³⁵And Jesus went throughout all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom and healing every disease and every affliction.

³⁶When he saw the crowds, he had compassion for them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd.

³⁷Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few;

³⁸therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest.”

¹Then Moses went up from the plains of Moab to Mount Nebo, to the top of Pisgah, which is opposite Jericho. And the LORD showed him all the land, Gilead as far as Dan,

²all Naphtali, the land of Ephraim and Manasseh, all the land of Judah as far as the western sea,

³the Negeb, and the Plain, that is, the Valley of Jericho the city of palm trees, as far as Zoar.

⁴And the LORD said to him, “This is the land of which I swore to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, ‘I will give it to your offspring.’ I have let you see it with your eyes, but you shall not go over there.”

⁵So Moses the servant of the LORD died there in the land of Moab, according to the word of the LORD,

⁶and he buried him in the valley in the land of Moab opposite Beth-peor; but no one knows the place of his burial to this day.

⁷Moses was 120 years old when he died. His eye was undimmed, and his vigor unabated.

⁸And the people of Israel wept for Moses in the plains of Moab thirty days. Then the days of weeping and mourning for Moses were ended.

⁹And Joshua the son of Nun was full of the spirit of wisdom, for Moses had laid his hands on him. So the people of Israel obeyed him and did as the LORD had commanded Moses.

¹⁰And there has not arisen a prophet since in Israel like Moses, whom the LORD knew face to face,

¹¹none like him for all the signs and the wonders that the LORD sent him to do in the land of Egypt, to Pharaoh and to all his servants and to all his land,

¹²and for all the mighty power and all the great deeds of terror that Moses did in the sight of all Israel.

¹Now I would remind you, brothers, of the gospel I preached to you, which you received, in which you stand,

²and by which you are being saved, if you hold fast to the word I preached to you — unless you believed in vain.

³For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures,

⁴that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures,

⁵and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve.

⁶Then he appeared to more than five hundred brothers at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have fallen asleep.

⁷Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles.

⁸Last of all, as to one untimely born, he appeared also to me.

⁹For I am the least of the apostles, unworthy to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God.

¹⁰But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace toward me was not in vain. On the contrary, I worked harder than any of them, though it was not I, but the grace of God that is with me.

¹¹Whether then it was I or they, so we preach and so you believed.

¹²Now if Christ is proclaimed as raised from the dead, how can some of you say that there is no resurrection of the dead?

¹³But if there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised.

¹⁴And if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain and your faith is in vain.

¹⁵We are even found to be misrepresenting God, because we testified about God that he raised Christ, whom he did not raise if it is true that the dead are not raised.

¹⁶For if the dead are not raised, not even Christ has been raised.

¹⁷And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins.

¹⁸Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished.

¹⁹If in Christ we have hope in this life only, we are of all people most to be pitied.

²⁰But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep.

²¹For as by a man came death, by a man has come also the resurrection of the dead.

²²For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive.

²³But each in his own order: Christ the firstfruits, then at his coming those who belong to Christ.

²⁴Then comes the end, when he delivers the kingdom to God the Father after destroying every rule and every authority and power.

²⁵For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet.

²⁶The last enemy to be destroyed is death.

²⁷For “God has put all things in subjection under his feet.” But when it says, “all things are put in subjection,” it is plain that he is excepted who put all things in subjection under him.

²⁸When all things are subjected to him, then the Son himself will also be subjected to him who put all things in subjection under him, that God may be all in all.

²⁹Otherwise, what do people mean by being baptized on behalf of the dead? If the dead are not raised at all, why are people baptized on their behalf?

³⁰Why are we in danger every hour?

³¹I protest, brothers, by my pride in you, which I have in Christ Jesus our Lord, I die every day!

³²What do I gain if, humanly speaking, I fought with beasts at Ephesus? If the dead are not raised, “Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die.”

³³Do not be deceived: “Bad company ruins good morals.”

³⁴Wake up from your drunken stupor, as is right, and do not go on sinning. For some have no knowledge of God. I say this to your shame.

³⁵But someone will ask, “How are the dead raised? With what kind of body do they come?”

³⁶You foolish person! What you sow does not come to life unless it dies.

³⁷And what you sow is not the body that is to be, but a bare kernel, perhaps of wheat or of some other grain.

³⁸But God gives it a body as he has chosen, and to each kind of seed its own body.

³⁹For not all flesh is the same, but there is one kind for humans, another for animals, another for birds, and another for fish.

⁴⁰There are heavenly bodies and earthly bodies, but the glory of the heavenly is of one kind, and the glory of the earthly is of another.

⁴¹There is one glory of the sun, and another glory of the moon, and another glory of the stars; for star differs from star in glory.

⁴²So is it with the resurrection of the dead. What is sown is perishable; what is raised is imperishable.

⁴³It is sown in dishonor; it is raised in glory. It is sown in weakness; it is raised in power.

⁴⁴It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body. If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual body.

⁴⁵Thus it is written, “The first man Adam became a living being”; the last Adam became a life-giving spirit.

⁴⁶But it is not the spiritual that is first but the natural, and then the spiritual.

⁴⁷The first man was from the earth, a man of dust; the second man is from heaven.

⁴⁸As was the man of dust, so also are those who are of the dust, and as is the man of heaven, so also are those who are of heaven.

⁴⁹Just as we have borne the image of the man of dust, we shall also bear the image of the man of heaven.

⁵⁰I tell you this, brothers: flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable.

⁵¹Behold! I tell you a mystery. We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed,

⁵²in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we shall be changed.

⁵³For this perishable body must put on the imperishable, and this mortal body must put on immortality.

⁵⁴When the perishable puts on the imperishable, and the mortal puts on immortality, then shall come to pass the saying that is written: “Death is swallowed up in victory.”

⁵⁵“O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?”

⁵⁶The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law.

⁵⁷But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

⁵⁸Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain.

¹Then I looked, and behold, on Mount Zion stood the Lamb, and with him 144,000 who had his name and his Father's name written on their foreheads.

²And I heard a voice from heaven like the roar of many waters and like the sound of loud thunder. The voice I heard was like the sound of harpists playing on their harps,

³and they were singing a new song before the throne and before the four living creatures and before the elders. No one could learn that song except the 144,000 who had been redeemed from the earth.

⁴It is these who have not defiled themselves with women, for they are virgins. It is these who follow the Lamb wherever he goes. These have been redeemed from mankind as firstfruits for God and the Lamb,

⁵and in their mouth no lie was found, for they are blameless.

⁶Then I saw another angel flying directly overhead, with an eternal gospel to proclaim to those who dwell on earth, to every nation and tribe and language and people.

⁷And he said with a loud voice, “Fear God and give him glory, because the hour of his judgment has come, and worship him who made heaven and earth, the sea and the springs of water.”

⁸Another angel, a second, followed, saying, “Fallen, fallen is Babylon the great, she who made all nations drink the wine of the passion of her sexual immorality.”

⁹And another angel, a third, followed them, saying with a loud voice, “If anyone worships the beast and its image and receives a mark on his forehead or on his hand,

¹⁰he also will drink the wine of God's wrath, poured full strength into the cup of his anger, and he will be tormented with fire and sulfur in the presence of the holy angels and in the presence of the Lamb.

¹¹And the smoke of their torment goes up forever and ever, and they have no rest, day or night, these worshipers of the beast and its image, and whoever receives the mark of its name.”

¹²Here is a call for the endurance of the saints, those who keep the commandments of God and their faith in Jesus.

¹³And I heard a voice from heaven saying, “Write this: Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on.” “Blessed indeed,” says the Spirit, “that they may rest from their labors, for their deeds follow them!”

¹⁴Then I looked, and behold, a white cloud, and seated on the cloud one like a son of man, with a golden crown on his head, and a sharp sickle in his hand.

¹⁵And another angel came out of the temple, calling with a loud voice to him who sat on the cloud, “Put in your sickle, and reap, for the hour to reap has come, for the harvest of the earth is fully ripe.”

¹⁶So he who sat on the cloud swung his sickle across the earth, and the earth was reaped.

¹⁷Then another angel came out of the temple in heaven, and he too had a sharp sickle.

¹⁸And another angel came out from the altar, the angel who has authority over the fire, and he called with a loud voice to the one who had the sharp sickle, “Put in your sickle and gather the clusters from the vine of the earth, for its grapes are ripe.”

¹⁹So the angel swung his sickle across the earth and gathered the grape harvest of the earth and threw it into the great winepress of the wrath of God.

²⁰And the winepress was trodden outside the city, and blood flowed from the winepress, as high as a horse's bridle, for 1,600 stadia.

¹There was a man in the land of Uz whose name was Job, and that man was blameless and upright, one who feared God and turned away from evil.

²There were born to him seven sons and three daughters.

³He possessed 7,000 sheep, 3,000 camels, 500 yoke of oxen, and 500 female donkeys, and very many servants, so that this man was the greatest of all the people of the east.

⁴His sons used to go and hold a feast in the house of each one on his day, and they would send and invite their three sisters to eat and drink with them.

⁵And when the days of the feast had run their course, Job would send and consecrate them, and he would rise early in the morning and offer burnt offerings according to the number of them all. For Job said, “It may be that my children have sinned, and cursed God in their hearts.” Thus Job did continually.

⁶Now there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the LORD, and Satan also came among them.

⁷The LORD said to Satan, “From where have you come?” Satan answered the LORD and said, “From going to and fro on the earth, and from walking up and down on it.”

⁸And the LORD said to Satan, “Have you considered my servant Job, that there is none like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man, who fears God and turns away from evil?”

⁹Then Satan answered the LORD and said, “Does Job fear God for no reason?

¹⁰Have you not put a hedge around him and his house and all that he has, on every side? You have blessed the work of his hands, and his possessions have increased in the land.

¹¹But stretch out your hand and touch all that he has, and he will curse you to your face.”

¹²And the LORD said to Satan, “Behold, all that he has is in your hand. Only against him do not stretch out your hand.” So Satan went out from the presence of the LORD.

¹³Now there was a day when his sons and daughters were eating and drinking wine in their oldest brother's house,

¹⁴and there came a messenger to Job and said, “The oxen were plowing and the donkeys feeding beside them,

¹⁵and the Sabeans fell upon them and took them and struck down the servants with the edge of the sword, and I alone have escaped to tell you.”

¹⁶While he was yet speaking, there came another and said, “The fire of God fell from heaven and burned up the sheep and the servants and consumed them, and I alone have escaped to tell you.”

¹⁷While he was yet speaking, there came another and said, “The Chaldeans formed three groups and made a raid on the camels and took them and struck down the servants with the edge of the sword, and I alone have escaped to tell you.”

¹⁸While he was yet speaking, there came another and said, “Your sons and daughters were eating and drinking wine in their oldest brother's house,

¹⁹and behold, a great wind came across the wilderness and struck the four corners of the house, and it fell upon the young people, and they are dead, and I alone have escaped to tell you.”

²⁰Then Job arose and tore his robe and shaved his head and fell on the ground and worshiped.

²¹And he said, “Naked I came from my mother's womb, and naked shall I return. The LORD gave, and the LORD has taken away; blessed be the name of the LORD.”

²²In all this Job did not sin or charge God with wrong.

¹Fret not yourself because of evildoers; be not envious of wrongdoers!

²For they will soon fade like the grass and wither like the green herb.

³Trust in the LORD, and do good; dwell in the land and befriend faithfulness.

⁴Delight yourself in the LORD, and he will give you the desires of your heart.

⁵Commit your way to the LORD; trust in him, and he will act.

⁶He will bring forth your righteousness as the light, and your justice as the noonday.

⁷Be still before the LORD and wait patiently for him; fret not yourself over the one who prospers in his way, over the man who carries out evil devices!

⁸Refrain from anger, and forsake wrath! Fret not yourself; it tends only to evil.

⁹For the evildoers shall be cut off, but those who wait for the LORD shall inherit the land.

¹⁰In just a little while, the wicked will be no more; though you look carefully at his place, he will not be there.

¹¹But the meek shall inherit the land and delight themselves in abundant peace.

¹²The wicked plots against the righteous and gnashes his teeth at him,

¹³but the Lord laughs at the wicked, for he sees that his day is coming.

¹⁴The wicked draw the sword and bend their bows to bring down the poor and needy, to slay those whose way is upright;

¹⁵their sword shall enter their own heart, and their bows shall be broken.

¹⁶Better is the little that the righteous has than the abundance of many wicked.

¹⁷For the arms of the wicked shall be broken, but the LORD upholds the righteous.

¹⁸The LORD knows the days of the blameless, and their heritage will remain forever;

¹⁹they are not put to shame in evil times; in the days of famine they have abundance.

²⁰But the wicked will perish; the enemies of the LORD are like the glory of the pastures; they vanish — like smoke they vanish away.

²¹The wicked borrows but does not pay back, but the righteous is generous and gives;

²²for those blessed by the LORD shall inherit the land, but those cursed by him shall be cut off.

²³The steps of a man are established by the LORD, when he delights in his way;

²⁴though he fall, he shall not be cast headlong, for the LORD upholds his hand.

²⁵I have been young, and now am old, yet I have not seen the righteous forsaken or his children begging for bread.

²⁶He is ever lending generously, and his children become a blessing.

²⁷Turn away from evil and do good; so shall you dwell forever.

²⁸For the LORD loves justice; he will not forsake his saints. They are preserved forever, but the children of the wicked shall be cut off.

²⁹The righteous shall inherit the land and dwell upon it forever.

³⁰The mouth of the righteous utters wisdom, and his tongue speaks justice.

³¹The law of his God is in his heart; his steps do not slip.

³²The wicked watches for the righteous and seeks to put him to death.

³³The LORD will not abandon him to his power or let him be condemned when he is brought to trial.

³⁴Wait for the LORD and keep his way, and he will exalt you to inherit the land; you will look on when the wicked are cut off.

³⁵I have seen a wicked, ruthless man, spreading himself like a green laurel tree.

³⁶But he passed away, and behold, he was no more; though I sought him, he could not be found.

³⁷Mark the blameless and behold the upright, for there is a future for the man of peace.

³⁸But transgressors shall be altogether destroyed; the future of the wicked shall be cut off.

³⁹The salvation of the righteous is from the LORD; he is their stronghold in the time of trouble.

⁴⁰The LORD helps them and delivers them; he delivers them from the wicked and saves them, because they take refuge in him.

¹The proverbs of Solomon, son of David, king of Israel:

²To know wisdom and instruction, to understand words of insight,

³to receive instruction in wise dealing, in righteousness, justice, and equity;

⁴to give prudence to the simple, knowledge and discretion to the youth —

⁵Let the wise hear and increase in learning, and the one who understands obtain guidance,

⁶to understand a proverb and a saying, the words of the wise and their riddles.

⁷The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge; fools despise wisdom and instruction.

⁸Hear, my son, your father's instruction, and forsake not your mother's teaching,

⁹for they are a graceful garland for your head and pendants for your neck.

¹⁰My son, if sinners entice you, do not consent.

¹¹If they say, “Come with us, let us lie in wait for blood; let us ambush the innocent without reason;

¹²like Sheol let us swallow them alive, and whole, like those who go down to the pit;

¹³we shall find all precious goods, we shall fill our houses with plunder;

¹⁴throw in your lot among us; we will all have one purse” —

¹⁵my son, do not walk in the way with them; hold back your foot from their paths,

¹⁶for their feet run to evil, and they make haste to shed blood.

¹⁷For in vain is a net spread in the sight of any bird,

¹⁸but these men lie in wait for their own blood; they set an ambush for their own lives.

¹⁹Such are the ways of everyone who is greedy for unjust gain; it takes away the life of its possessors.

²⁰Wisdom cries aloud in the street, in the markets she raises her voice;

²¹at the head of the noisy streets she cries out; at the entrance of the city gates she speaks:

²²“How long, O simple ones, will you love being simple? How long will scoffers delight in their scoffing and fools hate knowledge?

²³If you turn at my reproof, behold, I will pour out my spirit to you; I will make my words known to you.

²⁴Because I have called and you refused to listen, have stretched out my hand and no one has heeded,

²⁵because you have ignored all my counsel and would have none of my reproof,

²⁶I also will laugh at your calamity; I will mock when terror strikes you,

²⁷when terror strikes you like a storm and your calamity comes like a whirlwind, when distress and anguish come upon you.

²⁸Then they will call upon me, but I will not answer; they will seek me diligently but will not find me.

²⁹Because they hated knowledge and did not choose the fear of the LORD,

³⁰would have none of my counsel and despised all my reproof,

³¹therefore they shall eat the fruit of their way, and have their fill of their own devices.

³²For the simple are killed by their turning away, and the complacency of fools destroys them;

³³but whoever listens to me will dwell secure and will be at ease, without dread of disaster.”

¹As soon as Solomon finished his prayer, fire came down from heaven and consumed the burnt offering and the sacrifices, and the glory of the LORD filled the temple.

²And the priests could not enter the house of the LORD, because the glory of the LORD filled the LORD's house.

³When all the people of Israel saw the fire come down and the glory of the LORD on the temple, they bowed down with their faces to the ground on the pavement and worshiped and gave thanks to the LORD, saying, “For he is good, for his steadfast love endures forever.”

⁴Then the king and all the people offered sacrifice before the LORD.

⁵King Solomon offered as a sacrifice 22,000 oxen and 120,000 sheep. So the king and all the people dedicated the house of God.

⁶The priests stood at their posts; the Levites also, with the instruments for music to the LORD that King David had made for giving thanks to the LORD — for his steadfast love endures forever — whenever David offered praises by their ministry; opposite them the priests sounded trumpets, and all Israel stood.

⁷And Solomon consecrated the middle of the court that was before the house of the LORD, for there he offered the burnt offering and the fat of the peace offerings, because the bronze altar Solomon had made could not hold the burnt offering and the grain offering and the fat.

⁸At that time Solomon held the feast for seven days, and all Israel with him, a very great assembly, from Lebo-hamath to the Brook of Egypt.

⁹And on the eighth day they held a solemn assembly, for they had kept the dedication of the altar seven days and the feast seven days.

¹⁰On the twenty-third day of the seventh month he sent the people away to their homes, joyful and glad of heart for the prosperity that the LORD had granted to David and to Solomon and to Israel his people.

¹¹Thus Solomon finished the house of the LORD and the king's house. All that Solomon had planned to do in the house of the LORD and in his own house he successfully accomplished.

¹²Then the LORD appeared to Solomon in the night and said to him: “I have heard your prayer and have chosen this place for myself as a house of sacrifice.

¹³When I shut up the heavens so that there is no rain, or command the locust to devour the land, or send pestilence among my people,

¹⁴if my people who are called by my name humble themselves, and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land.

¹⁵Now my eyes will be open and my ears attentive to the prayer that is made in this place.

¹⁶For now I have chosen and consecrated this house that my name may be there forever. My eyes and my heart will be there for all time.

¹⁷And as for you, if you will walk before me as David your father walked, doing according to all that I have commanded you and keeping my statutes and my rules,

¹⁸then I will establish your royal throne, as I covenanted with David your father, saying, ‘You shall not lack a man to rule Israel.’

¹⁹“But if you turn aside and forsake my statutes and my commandments that I have set before you, and go and serve other gods and worship them,

²⁰then I will pluck you up from my land that I have given you, and this house that I have consecrated for my name, I will cast out of my sight, and I will make it a proverb and a byword among all peoples.

²¹And at this house, which was exalted, everyone passing by will be astonished and say, ‘Why has the LORD done thus to this land and to this house?’

²²Then they will say, ‘Because they abandoned the LORD, the God of their fathers who brought them out of the land of Egypt, and laid hold on other gods and worshiped them and served them. Therefore he has brought all this disaster on them.’”

¹Hear the word of the LORD, O children of Israel, for the LORD has a controversy with the inhabitants of the land. There is no faithfulness or steadfast love, and no knowledge of God in the land;

²there is swearing, lying, murder, stealing, and committing adultery; they break all bounds, and bloodshed follows bloodshed.

³Therefore the land mourns, and all who dwell in it languish, and also the beasts of the field and the birds of the heavens, and even the fish of the sea are taken away.

⁴Yet let no one contend, and let none accuse, for with you is my contention, O priest.

⁵You shall stumble by day; the prophet also shall stumble with you by night; and I will destroy your mother.

⁶My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge; because you have rejected knowledge, I reject you from being a priest to me. And since you have forgotten the law of your God, I also will forget your children.

⁷The more they increased, the more they sinned against me; I will change their glory into shame.

⁸They feed on the sin of my people; they are greedy for their iniquity.

⁹And it shall be like people, like priest; I will punish them for their ways and repay them for their deeds.

¹⁰They shall eat, but not be satisfied; they shall play the whore, but not multiply, because they have forsaken the LORD to cherish

¹¹whoredom, wine, and new wine, which take away the understanding.

¹²My people inquire of a piece of wood, and their walking staff gives them oracles. For a spirit of whoredom has led them astray, and they have left their God to play the whore.

¹³They sacrifice on the tops of the mountains and burn offerings on the hills, under oak, poplar, and terebinth, because their shade is good. Therefore your daughters play the whore, and your brides commit adultery.

¹⁴I will not punish your daughters when they play the whore, nor your brides when they commit adultery; for the men themselves go aside with prostitutes and sacrifice with cult prostitutes, and a people without understanding shall come to ruin.

¹⁵Though you play the whore, O Israel, let not Judah become guilty. Enter not into Gilgal, nor go up to Beth-aven, and swear not, “As the LORD lives.”

¹⁶Like a stubborn heifer, Israel is stubborn; can the LORD now feed them like a lamb in a broad pasture?

¹⁷Ephraim is joined to idols; leave him alone.

¹⁸When their drink is gone, they give themselves to whoring; their rulers dearly love shame.

¹⁹A wind has wrapped them in its wings, and they shall be ashamed because of their sacrifices.

¹And it happened that while Apollos was at Corinth, Paul passed through the inland country and came to Ephesus. There he found some disciples.

²And he said to them, “Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?” And they said, “No, we have not even heard that there is a Holy Spirit.”

³And he said, “Into what then were you baptized?” They said, “Into John's baptism.”

⁴And Paul said, “John baptized with the baptism of repentance, telling the people to believe in the one who was to come after him, that is, Jesus.”

⁵On hearing this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus.

⁶And when Paul had laid his hands on them, the Holy Spirit came on them, and they began speaking in tongues and prophesying.

⁷There were about twelve men in all.

⁸And he entered the synagogue and for three months spoke boldly, reasoning and persuading them about the kingdom of God.

⁹But when some became stubborn and continued in unbelief, speaking evil of the Way before the congregation, he withdrew from them and took the disciples with him, reasoning daily in the hall of Tyrannus.

¹⁰This continued for two years, so that all the residents of Asia heard the word of the Lord, both Jews and Greeks.

¹¹And God was doing extraordinary miracles by the hands of Paul,

¹²so that even handkerchiefs or aprons that had touched his skin were carried away to the sick, and their diseases left them and the evil spirits came out of them.

¹³Then some of the itinerant Jewish exorcists undertook to invoke the name of the Lord Jesus over those who had evil spirits, saying, “I adjure you by the Jesus whom Paul proclaims.”

¹⁴Seven sons of a Jewish high priest named Sceva were doing this.

¹⁵But the evil spirit answered them, “Jesus I know, and Paul I recognize, but who are you?”

¹⁶And the man in whom was the evil spirit leaped on them, mastered all of them and overpowered them, so that they fled out of that house naked and wounded.

¹⁷And this became known to all the residents of Ephesus, both Jews and Greeks. And fear fell upon them all, and the name of the Lord Jesus was extolled.

¹⁸Also many of those who were now believers came, confessing and divulging their practices.

¹⁹And a number of those who had practiced magic arts brought their books together and burned them in the sight of all. And they counted the value of them and found it came to fifty thousand pieces of silver.

²⁰So the word of the Lord continued to increase and prevail mightily.

²¹Now after these events Paul resolved in the Spirit to pass through Macedonia and Achaia and go to Jerusalem, saying, “After I have been there, I must also see Rome.”

²²And having sent into Macedonia two of his helpers, Timothy and Erastus, he himself stayed in Asia for a while.

²³About that time there arose no little disturbance concerning the Way.

²⁴For a man named Demetrius, a silversmith, who made silver shrines of Artemis, brought no little business to the craftsmen.

²⁵These he gathered together, with the workmen in similar trades, and said, “Men, you know that from this business we have our wealth.

²⁶And you see and hear that not only in Ephesus but in almost all of Asia this Paul has persuaded and turned away a great many people, saying that gods made with hands are not gods.

²⁷And there is danger not only that this trade of ours may come into disrepute but also that the temple of the great goddess Artemis may be counted as nothing, and that she may even be deposed from her magnificence, she whom all Asia and the world worship.”

²⁸When they heard this they were enraged and were crying out, “Great is Artemis of the Ephesians!”

²⁹So the city was filled with the confusion, and they rushed together into the theater, dragging with them Gaius and Aristarchus, Macedonians who were Paul's companions in travel.

³⁰But when Paul wished to go in among the crowd, the disciples would not let him.

³¹And even some of the Asiarchs, who were friends of his, sent to him and were urging him not to venture into the theater.

³²Now some cried out one thing, some another, for the assembly was in confusion, and most of them did not know why they had come together.

³³Some of the crowd prompted Alexander, whom the Jews had put forward. And Alexander, motioning with his hand, wanted to make a defense to the crowd.

³⁴But when they recognized that he was a Jew, for about two hours they all cried out with one voice, “Great is Artemis of the Ephesians!”

³⁵And when the town clerk had quieted the crowd, he said, “Men of Ephesus, who is there who does not know that the city of the Ephesians is temple keeper of the great Artemis, and of the sacred stone that fell from the sky?

³⁶Seeing then that these things cannot be denied, you ought to be quiet and do nothing rash.

³⁷For you have brought these men here who are neither sacrilegious nor blasphemers of our goddess.

³⁸If therefore Demetrius and the craftsmen with him have a complaint against anyone, the courts are open, and there are proconsuls. Let them bring charges against one another.

³⁹But if you seek anything further, it shall be settled in the regular assembly.

⁴⁰For we really are in danger of being charged with rioting today, since there is no cause that we can give to justify this commotion.”

⁴¹And when he had said these things, he dismissed the assembly.