Professor Horner’s Reading Plan

¹Jesus summoned His twelve disciples and gave them authority and power over unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to heal every kind of disease and every kind of sickness.

²Now these are the names of the twelve apostles (special messengers, personally chosen representatives): first, Simon, who is called Peter, and Andrew, his brother; James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother;

³Philip and Bartholomew (Nathanael); Thomas and Matthew (Levi) the tax collector; James the son of Alphaeus, and Thaddaeus (Judas, not Iscariot);

⁴Simon the Cananaean (Zealot), and Judas Iscariot, the one who betrayed Him.

⁵Jesus sent out these twelve, instructing them: "Do not go among the Gentiles, and do not go into a city of the Samaritans;

⁶but rather go to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.

⁷And as you go, preach, saying, 'The kingdom of heaven is at hand.'

⁸Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse the lepers, cast out demons. Freely you have received, freely give.

⁹Do not take gold, or silver, or [even] copper money in your money belt,

¹⁰or a provision bag for your journey, or even two tunics, or sandals, or a staff; for the worker deserves his support.

¹¹Whatever city or village you enter, ask who in it is worthy [who welcomes you and your message], and stay at his house until you leave [that city].

¹²As you go into the house, give it your greeting [that is, 'Peace be to this house'].

¹³If [the family living in] the house is worthy [welcoming you and your message], give it your [blessing of] peace [that is, a blessing of well-being and prosperity, the favor of God]. But if it is not worthy, take back your blessing of peace.

¹⁴Whoever does not welcome you, nor listen to your message, as you leave that house or city, shake the dust [of it] off your feet [in contempt, breaking all ties].

¹⁵I assure you and most solemnly say to you, it will be more tolerable on the day of judgment for the land of Sodom and Gomorrah than for that city [since it rejected the Messiah's messenger].

¹⁶"Listen carefully: I am sending you out like sheep among wolves; so be wise as serpents, and innocent as doves [have no self-serving agenda].

¹⁷Beware of men [whose nature is to act in opposition to God], for they will hand you over to the courts and flog you in their synagogues;

¹⁸and you will be brought before governors and kings for My sake, as witnesses to them and to the Gentiles.

¹⁹But when they hand you over, do not worry about how or what you are to say; for what you are to say will be given you within that [very] hour;

²⁰for it is not you speaking, but the Spirit of your Father speaking through you.

²¹"Brother will betray brother to death, and the father his child; and children will rise up and rebel against their parents and cause them to be put death.

²²And you will be hated by everyone because of [your association with] My name, but it is the one who has patiently persevered and endured to the end who will be saved.

²³"When they persecute you in one city [because of your faith in Me], flee to the next; for I assure you and most solemnly say to you, you will not finish going through all the cities of Israel before the Son of Man comes.

²⁴"A disciple is not above his teacher, nor is a bond-servant above his master.

²⁵It is enough for the disciple to be like his teacher, and the bond-servant like his master. If they have called the head of the house Beelzebul (Satan), how much more [will they speak evil of] the members of his household.

²⁶"So do not be afraid of them, for nothing is hidden that will not be revealed [at the judgment], or kept secret that will not be made known [at the judgment].

²⁷What I say to you in the dark (privately), tell in the light (publicly); and what you hear whispered in your ear, proclaim from the housetops [to many people].

²⁸Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul; but rather be afraid of Him who can destroy both soul and body in hell.

²⁹Are not two little sparrows sold for a copper coin? And yet not one of them falls to the ground apart from your Father's will.

³⁰But even the very hairs of your head are all numbered [for the Father is sovereign and has complete knowledge].

³¹So do not fear; you are more valuable than many sparrows.

³²"Therefore, the one who confesses and acknowledges Me before men [as Lord and Savior, affirming a state of oneness with Me], that one I will also confess and acknowledge before My Father who is in heaven.

³³But the one who denies and rejects Me before men, that one I will also deny and reject before My Father who is in heaven.

³⁴"Do not think that I have come to bring peace on the earth; I have not come to bring peace, but a sword [of division between belief and unbelief].

³⁵For I have come to set a man against his father, and a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law;

³⁶and a man's enemies will be the members of his [own] household [when one believes and another does not].

³⁷" He who loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me; and he who loves son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me.

³⁸And he who does not take his cross [expressing a willingness to endure whatever may come] and follow Me [believing in Me, conforming to My example in living and, if need be, suffering or perhaps dying because of faith in Me] is not worthy of Me.

³⁹Whoever finds his life [in this world] will [eventually] lose it [through death], and whoever loses his life [in this world] for My sake will find it [that is, life with Me for all eternity].

⁴⁰"He who receives and welcomes you receives Me, and he who receives Me receives Him who sent Me.

⁴¹He who receives and welcomes a prophet because he is a prophet will receive a prophet's reward; and he who receives a righteous (honorable) man because he is a righteous man will receive a righteous man's reward.

⁴²And whoever gives to one of these little ones [these who are humble in rank or influence] even a cup of cold water to drink because he is my disciple, truly I say to you, he will not lose his reward."

¹In the beginning God (Elohim) created [by forming from nothing] the heavens and the earth.

²The earth was formless and void or a waste and emptiness, and darkness was upon the face of the deep [primeval ocean that covered the unformed earth]. The Spirit of God was moving (hovering, brooding) over the face of the waters.

³And God said,"Let there be light"; and there was light.

⁴God saw that the light was good (pleasing, useful) and He affirmed and sustained it; and God separated the light [distinguishing it] from the darkness.

⁵And God called the light day, and the darkness He called night. And there was evening and there was morning, one day.

⁶And God said, "Let there be an expanse [of the sky] in the midst of the waters, and let it separate the waters [below the expanse] from the waters [above the expanse]."

⁷And God made the expanse [of sky] and separated the waters which were under the expanse from the waters which were above the expanse; and it was so [just as He commanded].

⁸God called the expanse [of sky] heaven. And there was evening and there was morning, a second day.

⁹Then God said, "Let the waters below the heavens be gathered into one place [of standing, pooling together], and let the dry land appear"; and it was so.

¹⁰God called the dry land earth, and the gathering of the waters He called seas; and God saw that this was good (pleasing, useful) and He affirmed and sustained it.

¹¹So God said, "Let the earth sprout [tender] vegetation, plants yielding seed, and fruit trees bearing fruit according to (limited to, consistent with) their kind, whose seed is in them upon the earth"; and it was so.

¹²The earth sprouted and abundantly produced vegetation, plants yielding seed according to their kind, and trees bearing fruit with seed in them, according to their kind; and God saw that it was good and He affirmed and sustained it.

¹³And there was evening and there was morning, a third day.

¹⁴Then God said, "Let there be light-bearers (sun, moon, stars) in the expanse of the heavens to separate the day from the night, and let them be useful for signs (tokens) [of God's provident care], and for marking seasons, days, and years;

¹⁵and let them be useful as lights in the expanse of the heavens to provide light on the earth"; and it was so, [just as He commanded].

¹⁶God made the two great lights—the greater light (the sun) to rule the day, and the lesser light (the moon) to rule the night; He made the [galaxies of] stars also [that is, all the amazing wonders in the heavens].

¹⁷God placed them in the expanse of the heavens to provide light upon the earth,

¹⁸to rule over the day and the night, and to separate the light from the darkness; and God saw that it was good and He affirmed and sustained it.

¹⁹And there was evening and there was morning, a fourth day.

²⁰Then God said, "Let the waters swarm and abundantly produce living creatures, and let birds soar above the earth in the open expanse of the heavens."

²¹God created the great sea monsters and every living creature that moves, with which the waters swarmed according to their kind, and every winged bird according to its kind; and God saw that it was good and He affirmed and sustained it.

²²And God blessed them, saying, "Be fruitful, multiply, and fill the waters in the seas, and let birds multiply on the earth."

²³And there was evening and there was morning, a fifth day.

²⁴Then God said, "Let the earth bring forth living creatures according to (limited to, consistent with) their kind: livestock, crawling things, and wild animals of the earth according to their kinds"; and it was so [because He had spoken them into creation].

²⁵So God made the wild animals of the earth according to their kind, and the cattle according to their kind, and everything that creeps and crawls on the earth according to its kind; and God saw that it was good (pleasing, useful) and He affirmed and sustained it.

²⁶Then God said, "Let Us (Father, Son, Holy Spirit) make man in Our image, according to Our likeness [not physical, but a spiritual personality and moral likeness]; and let them have complete authority over the fish of the sea, the birds of the air, the cattle, and over the entire earth, and over everything that creeps and crawls on the earth."

²⁷So God created man in His own image, in the image and likeness of God He created him; male and female He created them.

²⁸And God blessed them [granting them certain authority] and said to them, "Be fruitful, multiply, and fill the earth, and subjugate it [putting it under your power]; and rule over (dominate) the fish of the sea, the birds of the air, and every living thing that moves upon the earth."

²⁹So God said, "Behold, I have given you every plant yielding seed that is on the surface of the entire earth, and every tree which has fruit yielding seed; it shall be food for you;

³⁰and to all the animals on the earth and to every bird of the air and to everything that moves on the ground—to everything in which there is the breath of life—I have given every green plant for food"; and it was so [because He commanded it].

³¹God saw everything that He had made, and behold, it was very good and He validated it completely. And there was evening and there was morning, a sixth day.

¹Now concerning the money collected for [the relief of] the saints [in Jerusalem], you are to do the same as I directed the churches of Galatia to do.

²On the first day of every week each one of you is to put something aside, in proportion to his prosperity, and save it so that no collections [will need to] be made when I come.

³When I arrive, I will send whomever you approve with letters [of authorization] to take your gift [of charity and love] to Jerusalem;

⁴and if it is fitting for me to go too, they will accompany me.

⁵I will visit you after I go through Macedonia, for I am only passing through Macedonia;

⁶but it may be that I will stay with you [for a while], or even spend the winter, so that you may send me on my way to wherever I may go afterward.

⁷For I do not wish to see you right now just in passing, but I hope to remain with you for some time [later on], if the Lord permits.

⁸But I will stay in Ephesus until Pentecost,

⁹because a wide door for effective service has opened to me [in Ephesus, a very promising opportunity], and there are many adversaries.

¹⁰If Timothy comes, see to it that [you put him at ease, so that] he has nothing to fear in regard to you, for he is [devotedly] doing the Lord's work, just as I am.

¹¹So allow no one to treat him with disdain [as if he were inconsequential]. But send him off [cordially, and speed him on his way] in peace, so that he may come to me, for I am expecting him [to come along] with the other brothers.

¹²As for our brother Apollos, I have strongly encouraged him to visit you with the other brothers. It was not at all his desire to come now, but he will come when he has the opportunity.

¹³Be on guard; stand firm in your faith [in God, respecting His precepts and keeping your doctrine sound]. Act like [mature] men and be courageous; be strong.

¹⁴Let everything you do be done in love [motivated and inspired by God's love for us].

¹⁵Brothers and sisters, you know that those of the household of Stephanas were the first converts in Achaia, and that they have devoted themselves for ministry to God's people—now I urge you

¹⁶to be subject to such leaders [treating them with courtesy and respect], and to everyone who helps in the work and labors [for the benefit of yourselves and the church].

¹⁷I rejoice because Stephanas and Fortunatus and Achaicus have arrived, for they have made up for your absence.

¹⁸They have refreshed my spirit as well as yours. So fully acknowledge such men and deeply appreciate them.

¹⁹The churches of Asia send you their greetings. Aquila and Prisca, together with the church [that meets] in their house, send you their warm greetings in the Lord.

²⁰All the believers greet you. Greet one another with a holy kiss.

²¹This greeting is in my own hand—Paul.

²²If anyone does not love the Lord [does not obey and respect and believe in Jesus Christ and His message], he is to be accursed. Maranatha (O our Lord, come)!

²³The grace of our Lord Jesus [His unmerited favor, His spiritual blessing, His profound mercy] be with you.

²⁴My love be with all of you in Christ Jesus. Amen.

¹Then I saw another sign in heaven, great and wonderful [a warning of terrifying and horrible events]: seven angels who had seven plagues (afflictions, calamities), which are the last, because with them the wrath of God is finished [that is, it is completely expressed and reaches its zenith].

²Then I saw something like a sea or large expanse of glass mixed with fire, and those who were victorious over the beast and over his image and over the number corresponding to his name were standing on the sea or large expanse of glass, holding harps of God [worshiping Him].

³And they sang the song of Moses, the bond-servant of God, and the song of the Lamb, saying, "Great and wonderful and awe-inspiring are Your works [in judgment], O Lord God, the Almighty [the Omnipotent, the Ruler of all]; Righteous and true are Your ways, O King of the nations!

⁴"Who will not fear [reverently] and glorify Your name, O Lord [giving You honor and praise in worship]? For You alone are holy; For all the nations shall come and worship before You, For Your righteous acts [Your just decrees and judgments] have been revealed and displayed."

⁵After these things I looked, and the temple (sanctuary) of the tabernacle of the testimony in heaven was opened,

⁶and the seven angels who had the seven plagues (afflictions, calamities) came out of the temple, arrayed in linen, pure and gleaming, and wrapped around their chests were golden sashes.

⁷Then one of the four living creatures gave to the seven angels seven golden bowls full of the wrath and indignation of God, who lives forever and ever.

⁸And the temple was filled with smoke from the glory and radiance and splendor of God and from His power; and no one was able to enter the temple until the seven plagues of the seven angels were finished.

¹Again there was a day when the sons of God (angels) came to present themselves before the LORD, and Satan (adversary, accuser) also came among them to present himself before the LORD.

²The LORD said to Satan, "From where have you come?" Then Satan answered the LORD, "From roaming around on the earth and from walking around on it."

³The LORD said to Satan, "Have you considered and reflected on My servant Job? For there is none like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man, one who fears God [with reverence] and abstains from and turns away from evil [because he honors God]. And still he maintains and holds tightly to his integrity, although you incited Me against him to destroy him without cause."

⁴Satan answered the LORD, " Skin for skin! Yes, a man will give all he has for his life.

⁵But put forth Your hand now, and touch his bone and his flesh [and severely afflict him]; and he will curse You to Your face."

⁶So the LORD said to Satan, "Behold, he is in your hand, only spare his life."

⁷So Satan departed from the presence of the LORD and struck Job with loathsome boils and agonizingly painful sores from the sole of his foot to the crown of his head.

⁸And Job took a piece of broken pottery with which to scrape himself, and he sat [down] among the ashes (rubbish heaps).

⁹Then his wife said to him, "Do you still cling to your integrity [and your faith and trust in God, without blaming Him]? Curse God and die!"

¹⁰But he said to her, "You speak as one of the [spiritually] foolish women speaks [ignorant and oblivious to God's will]. Shall we indeed accept [only] good from God and not [also] accept adversity and disaster?" In [spite of] all this Job did not sin with [words from] his lips.

¹¹Now when Job's three friends heard of all this adversity that had come upon him, each one came from his own place, Eliphaz the Temanite, Bildad the Shuhite, and Zophar the Naamathite; for they had made an appointment together to come to sympathize with him and to comfort him.

¹²When they looked from a distance and did not recognize him [because of his disfigurement], they raised their voices and wept; and each one tore his robe [in grief] and they threw dust over their heads toward the sky [in sorrow].

¹³So they sat down on the ground with Job for seven days and seven nights and no one spoke a word to him, for they saw that his pain was very great.

¹A Psalm of David; to bring to remembrance. O LORD, do not rebuke me in Your wrath, Nor discipline me in Your burning anger.

²For Your arrows have sunk into me and penetrate deeply, And Your hand has pressed down on me and greatly disciplined me.

³There is no soundness in my flesh because of Your indignation; There is no health in my bones because of my sin.

⁴For my iniquities have gone over my head [like the waves of a flood]; As a heavy burden they weigh too much for me.

⁵My wounds are loathsome and foul Because of my foolishness.

⁶I am bent over and greatly bowed down; I go about mourning all day long.

⁷For my sides are filled with burning, And there is no health in my flesh.

⁸I am numb and greatly bruised [deadly cold and completely worn out]; I groan because of the disquiet and moaning of my heart.

⁹Lord, all my desire is before You; And my sighing is not hidden from You.

¹⁰My heart throbs violently, my strength fails me; And as for the light of my eyes, even that has also gone from me.

¹¹My loved ones and my friends stand aloof from my plague; And my neighbors stand far away.

¹²Those who seek my life lay snares for me, And those who seek to injure me threaten mischievous things and destruction; They devise treachery all the day long.

¹³But I, like a deaf man, do not hear; I am like a mute man who does not open his mouth.

¹⁴Yes, I am like a man who does not hear, In whose mouth are no arguments.

¹⁵For in You, O LORD, I hope; You will answer, O Lord my God.

¹⁶For I pray, "May they not rejoice over me, Who, when my foot slips, would boast against me."

¹⁷For I am ready to fall; My sorrow is continually before me.

¹⁸For I do confess my guilt and iniquity; I am filled with anxiety because of my sin.

¹⁹But my [numerous] enemies are vigorous and strong, And those who hate me without cause are many.

²⁰They repay evil for good, they attack and try to kill me, Because I follow what is good.

²¹Do not abandon me, O LORD; O my God, do not be far from me.

²²Make haste to help me, O Lord, my Salvation.

¹My son, if you will receive my words And treasure my commandments within you,

²So that your ear is attentive to [skillful and godly] wisdom, And apply your heart to understanding [seeking it conscientiously and striving for it eagerly];

³Yes, if you cry out for insight, And lift up your voice for understanding;

⁴If you seek skillful and godly wisdom as you would silver And search for her as you would hidden treasures;

⁵Then you will understand the [reverent] fear of the LORD [that is, worshiping Him and regarding Him as truly awesome] And discover the knowledge of God.

⁶For the LORD gives [skillful and godly] wisdom; From His mouth come knowledge and understanding.

⁷He stores away sound wisdom for the righteous [those who are in right standing with Him]; He is a shield to those who walk in integrity [those of honorable character and moral courage],

⁸He guards the paths of justice; And He preserves the way of His saints (believers).

⁹Then you will understand righteousness and justice [in every circumstance] And integrity and every good path.

¹⁰For [skillful and godly] wisdom will enter your heart And knowledge will be pleasant to your soul.

¹¹Discretion will watch over you, Understanding and discernment will guard you,

¹²To keep you from the way of evil and the evil man, From the man who speaks perverse things;

¹³From those who leave the paths of uprightness To walk in the ways of darkness;

¹⁴Who find joy in doing evil And delight in the perversity of evil,

¹⁵Whose paths are crooked, And who are devious in their ways;

¹⁶To keep you from the immoral woman; From the seductress with her flattering words,

¹⁷Who leaves the companion (husband) of her youth, And forgets the covenant of her God.

¹⁸For her house leads down to death And her paths lead to the dead;

¹⁹None who go to her return again, Nor do they regain the paths of life—

²⁰So you will walk in the way of good men [that is, those of personal integrity, moral courage and honorable character], And keep to the paths of the righteous.

²¹For the upright [those who are in right standing with God] will live in the land And those [of integrity] who are blameless [in God's sight] will remain in it;

²²But the wicked will be cut off from the land And the treacherous shall be [forcibly] uprooted and removed from it.

¹Now it came about at the end of the twenty years, in which Solomon had built the house of the LORD and his own house (palace),

²that he built and fortified the cities which Huram (Hiram) had given to him, and settled the Israelites there.

³Then Solomon went to Hamath-zobah and captured it.

⁴He built Tadmor in the wilderness, and all his storage cities in Hamath.

⁵He also built upper Beth-horon and lower Beth-horon, fortified cities with walls, gates, and bars [to lock the gates];

⁶and Baalath and all the storage cities that Solomon had, and all the cities for his chariots and the cities for his horsemen, and all that Solomon desired to build in Jerusalem, in Lebanon, and in all the land under his rule.

⁷All the people who were left of the Hittites, the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites, who were not of Israel,

⁸but were descendants of those who were left in the land, whom the Israelites had not destroyed—Solomon brought them up as forced laborers to this day.

⁹But Solomon did not make slaves of the Israelites for his work; they were men of war, his chief captains, and commanders of his chariots and his horsemen.

¹⁰These were the chief officers of King Solomon, two hundred and fifty [in authority] who ruled over the people.

¹¹Then Solomon brought the daughter of Pharaoh up from the City of David into the house (palace) he had built for her, for he said, "My wife shall not live in the house of David king of Israel, because the places where the ark of the LORD has entered are holy."

¹²Then Solomon offered burnt offerings to the LORD on the altar of the LORD which he had built in front of the porch [of the temple],

¹³a certain number every day, offering them up as Moses commanded for the Sabbaths, the New Moons, and the three annual feasts—the Feast of Unleavened Bread, the Feast of Weeks, and the Feast of Booths (Tabernacles).

¹⁴Now in accordance with the ordinance of his father David, he appointed the divisions of the priests for their service, and the Levites for their duties of praise and ministering and serving before the priests as every day required, and the gatekeepers by their divisions at every gate; for David the man of God had so commanded.

¹⁵And they did not deviate from the commandment of the king to the priests and Levites in any respect or in regard to the storehouses or treasuries.

¹⁶Thus all the work of Solomon was carried out from the day the foundation of the house of the LORD was laid until it was finished. So the house of the LORD was completed.

¹⁷Then Solomon went to Ezion-geber and to Eloth on the shore of the [Red] Sea in the land of Edom.

¹⁸And Huram (Hiram) sent him, by his servants, ships and servants familiar with the sea; and they went with Solomon's servants to Ophir, and took from there four hundred and fifty talents of gold, and brought them to King Solomon.

¹Hear this and pay close attention, O priests! Give heed, O house of Israel! Listen, O house of the king! For the [pronounced] judgment pertains to you and is meant for you to hear, Because you have been a snare at Mizpah And a net spread out over Tabor (military strongholds on either side of the Jordan River).

²The revolters have gone deep into depravity, But I [the LORD God] will chastise them all.

³I know Ephraim, and Israel is not hidden from Me; For now, O Ephraim, you have played the prostitute and have worshiped idols; Israel has defiled itself.

⁴Their [immoral] practices will not permit them To return to their God, For the spirit of prostitution is within them And they do not know the LORD [they do not recognize, appreciate, heed or cherish Him].

⁵But the pride and self-reliance of Israel testifies against him. Therefore Israel, and [especially] Ephraim, stumble and fall in their wickedness and guilt; Judah also has stumbled with them.

⁶They will go with their flocks and with their herds To seek the LORD [diligently searching for Him], but they will not find Him; He has withdrawn from them [refusing to hear the prayers of the unrepentant].

⁷They have dealt treacherously against the LORD, For they have borne illegitimate (pagan) children. Now the New Moon will devour them along with their land [bringing judgment and captivity].

⁸Blow the horn in Gibeah, The trumpet in Ramah [the lofty hills on Benjamin's northern border]. Sound the alarm at Beth-aven: "Behind you and coming after you [is the enemy], O Benjamin [be on guard]!"

⁹Ephraim will become a desolation in the day of rebuke; Among the tribes of Israel I declare what is certain.

¹⁰The princes of Judah are like those who move a boundary marker; I will pour out My wrath on them like [an unrestrained flood of] water.

¹¹Ephraim is oppressed; he is broken and crushed by [divine] judgment, Because he was determined to follow man's command(vanities, filth, secular precepts).

¹²Therefore I am like a moth to Ephraim And like dry rot to the house of Judah [in My judgment against them].

¹³When Ephraim saw his sickness, And Judah his wound, Then Ephraim went to Assyria [instead of the LORD] And sent to [Assyria's] great King Jareb [for help]. But he cannot heal you Nor will he cure you of your wound [received in judgment].

¹⁴For I will be like a lion to Ephraim And like a young lion to the house of Judah. I, even I, will tear to pieces and go on [tearing]; I will carry off [the prey] and there will be no one to rescue them.

¹⁵I will go away and return to My place [on high] Until they acknowledge their offense and bear their guilt and seek My face; In their distress they will earnestly seek Me, saying,

¹After the uproar had ended, Paul sent for the disciples, and when he had encouraged them he told them goodbye, and set off to go to Macedonia.

²After he had gone through those districts and had encouraged the believers, he came to Greece.

³And he stayed three months, and when a plot was formed against him by the Jews as he was about to set sail for Syria, he decided to return through Macedonia (northern Greece).

⁴He was accompanied by Sopater of Berea, the son of Pyrrhus, and by Aristarchus and Secundus of the Thessalonians, and by Gaius of Derbe, and Timothy, and Tychicus and Trophimus of Asia.

⁵These men went on ahead and were waiting for us (including Luke) at Troas.

⁶We sailed from Philippi after the days of Unleavened Bread (Passover week), and within five days we reached them at Troas, where we stayed for seven days.

⁷Now on the first day of the week (Sunday), when we were gathered together to break bread (share communion), Paul began talking with them, intending to leave the next day; and he kept on with his message until midnight.

⁸Now there were many lamps in the upper room where we were assembled,

⁹and there was a young man named Eutychus ("Lucky") sitting on the window sill. He was sinking into a deep sleep, and as Paul kept on talking longer and longer, he was completely overcome by sleep and fell down from the third story; and he was picked up dead.

¹⁰But Paul went down and threw himself on him and embraced him, and said [to those standing around him], "Do not be troubled, because he is alive."

¹¹When Paul had gone back upstairs and had broken the bread and eaten, he talked [informally and confidentially] with them for a long time—until daybreak [in fact]—and then he left.

¹²They took the boy [Eutychus] home alive, and were greatly comforted and encouraged.

¹³But we went on ahead to the ship and set sail for Assos, intending to take Paul on board there; for that was what he had arranged, intending himself to go [a shorter route] by land.

¹⁴So when he met us at Assos, we took him on board and sailed on to Mitylene.

¹⁵Sailing from there, we arrived the next day [at a point] opposite Chios; the following day we crossed over to Samos, and the next day we arrived at Miletus [about 30 miles south of Ephesus].

¹⁶Paul had decided to sail on past Ephesus so that he would not end up spending time [unnecessarily] in [the province of] Asia (modern Turkey); for he was in a hurry to be in Jerusalem, if possible, on the day of Pentecost.

¹⁷However, from Miletus he sent word to Ephesus and summoned the elders of the church [to meet him there].

¹⁸And when they arrived he said to them: "You know well how I [lived when I] was with you, from the first day that I set foot in Asia [until now],

¹⁹serving the Lord with all humility and with tears and trials which came on me because of the plots of the Jews [against me];

²⁰[you know] how I did not shrink back in fear from telling you anything that was for your benefit, or from teaching you in public meetings, and from house to house,

²¹solemnly [and wholeheartedly] testifying to both Jews and Greeks, urging them to turn in repentance to God and [to have] faith in our Lord Jesus Christ [for salvation].

²²And now, compelled by the Spirit and obligated by my convictions, I am going to Jerusalem, not knowing what will happen to me there,

²³except that the Holy Spirit solemnly [and emphatically] affirms to me in city after city that imprisonment and suffering await me.

²⁴But I do not consider my life as something of value or dear to me, so that I may [with joy] finish my course and the ministry which I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify faithfully of the good news of God's [precious, undeserved] grace [which makes us free of the guilt of sin and grants us eternal life].

²⁵"And now, listen carefully: I know that none of you, among whom I went about preaching the kingdom, will see me again.

²⁶For that reason I testify to you on this [our parting] day that I am innocent of the blood of all people.

²⁷For I did not shrink from declaring to you the whole purpose and plan of God.

²⁸Take care and be on guard for yourselves and for the whole flock over which the Holy Spirit has appointed you as overseers, to shepherd (tend, feed, guide) the church of God which He bought with His own blood.

²⁹I know that after I am gone, [false teachers like] ferocious wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock;

³⁰even from among your own selves men will arise, speaking perverse and distorted things, to draw away the disciples after themselves [as their followers].

³¹Therefore be continually alert, remembering that for three years, night or day, I did not stop admonishing and advising each one [of you] with tears.

³²And now I commend you to God [placing you in His protective, loving care] and [I commend you] to the word of His grace [the counsel and promises of His unmerited favor]. His grace is able to build you up and to give you the [rightful] inheritance among all those who are sanctified [that is, among those who are set apart for God's purpose—all believers].

³³I had no desire for anyone's silver or gold or [expensive] clothes.

³⁴You know personally that these hands ministered to my own needs [working in manual labor] and to [those of] the people who were with me.

³⁵In everything I showed you [by example] that by working hard in this way you must help the weak and remember the words of the Lord Jesus, that He Himself said, 'It is more blessed [and brings greater joy] to give than to receive.'"

³⁶When he had said these things, he knelt down and prayed with them all.

³⁷And they began to weep openly and threw their arms around Paul's neck, and repeatedly kissed him,

³⁸grieving and distressed especially over the word which he had spoken, that they would not see him again. And they accompanied him to the ship.