Professor Horner’s Reading Plan

¹At that time the disciples came to Jesus and said, “Who then is greatest in the kingdom of heaven?”

²And He called a child to Himself and set him among them,

³and said, “Truly I say to you, unless youchange and become like children, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven.

⁴So whoever will humble himself like this child, he is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.

⁵And whoever receives one such child in My name, receives Me;

⁶but whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in Me tosin, it is better for him that aheavy millstone be hung around his neck, and that he be drowned in the depths of the sea.

⁷“Woe to the world because of its stumbling blocks! For it is inevitable that stumbling blocks come; but woe to the person through whom the stumbling block comes!

⁸“And if your hand or your foot is causing you to sin, cut it off and throw it away from you; it is better for you to enter life maimed or without a foot, than to have two hands or two feet and be thrown into the eternal fire.

⁹And if your eye is causing you to sin, tear it out and throw it away from you. It is better for you to enter life with one eye, than to have two eyes and be thrown into thefiery hell.

¹⁰“See that you do not look down on one of these little ones; for I say to you that their angels in heaven continually see the face of My Father who is in heaven.

¹¹

¹²“What do you think? If any man has a hundred sheep, and one of them goes astray, will he not leave the ninety-nine on the mountains, and go and search for the one that is lost?

¹³And if it turns out that he finds it, truly I say to you, he rejoices over it more than over the ninety-nine that have not gone astray.

¹⁴So it is not the willof your Father who is in heaven for one of these little ones to perish.

¹⁵“Now if your brother sins , go and show him his fault in private; if he listens to you, you have gained your brother.

¹⁶But if he does not listen to you, take one or two more with you, so that ON THETESTIMONY OF TWO OR THREE WITNESSES EVERYMATTER MAY BE CONFIRMED.

¹⁷And if he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church; and if he refuses to listen even to the church, he is to be to you asa Gentile anda tax collector.

¹⁸Truly I say to you, whatever youbind on earthshall have been bound in heaven; and whatever youloose on earthshall have been loosed in heaven.

¹⁹“Again I say to you, that if two of you agree on earth about anything that they may ask, it shall be done for them by My Father who is in heaven.

²⁰For where two or three have gathered together in My name, I am there in their midst.”

²¹Then Peter came up and said to Him, “Lord, how many times shall my brother sin against me and I still forgive him? Up to seven times?”

²²Jesus *said to him, “I do not say to you, up to seven times, but up toseventy-seven times.

²³“For this reason the kingdom of heaven is like a king who wanted to settle accounts with his slaves.

²⁴And when he had begun to settle them, one who owed himten thousand talents was brought to him.

²⁵But since hedid not have the means to repay, his master commanded that he be sold, along with his wife and children and all that he had, and repayment be made.

²⁶So the slave fell to the ground and prostrated himself before him, saying, ‘Have patience with me and I will repay you everything.’

²⁷And the master of that slave felt compassion, and he released him and forgave him thedebt.

²⁸But that slave went out and found one of his fellow slaves who owed him a hundreddenarii; and he seized him and began to choke him, saying, ‘Pay back what you owe!’

²⁹So his fellow slave fell to the ground and began to plead with him, saying, ‘Have patience with me and I will repay you.’

³⁰But he was unwilling,and went and threw him in prison until he would pay back what was owed.

³¹So when his fellow slaves saw what had happened, they were deeply grieved and came and reported to their master all that had happened.

³²Then summoning him, his master *said to him, ‘You wicked slave, I forgave you all that debt because you pleaded with me.

³³Should you not also have had mercy on your fellow slave, in the same way that I had mercy on you?’

³⁴And his master, moved with anger, handed him over to thetorturers until he would repay all that was owed him.

³⁵My heavenly Father will also do the same to you, if each of you does not forgive his brother from yourheart.”

¹Now the LORD appeared to Abraham by the oaks of Mamre, while he was sitting at the tent door in the heat of the day.

²When he raised his eyes and looked, behold, three men were standing opposite him; and when he saw them, he ran from the tent door to meet them and bowed down to the ground,

³and said, “My Lord, if now I have found favor in Your sight, please do not pass Your servant by.

⁴Please let a little water be brought and wash your feet, and make yourselves comfortable under the tree;

⁵and I will bring a piece of bread, so that you may refresh yourselves; after that you may go on, since you have visited your servant.” And they said, “So do as you have said.”

⁶So Abraham hurried into the tent to Sarah, and said, “Quickly, prepare three measures of fine flour, knead it, and make bread cakes.”

⁷Abraham also ran to the herd, and took a tender and choice calf and gave it to the servant, and he hurried to prepare it.

⁸He took curds and milk and the calf which he had prepared, and set it before them; and he was standing by them under the tree as they ate.

⁹Then they said to him, “Where is your wife Sarah?” And he said, “There, in the tent.”

¹⁰He said, “I will certainly return to you at this time next year; and behold, your wife Sarah will have a son.” And Sarah was listening at the tent door, which was behind him.

¹¹Now Abraham and Sarah were old, advanced in age; Sarah was past childbearing.

¹²So Sarah laughed to herself, saying, “After I have become old, am I to have pleasure, my lord being old also?”

¹³But the LORD said to Abraham, “Why did Sarah laugh, saying, ‘Shall I actually give birth to a child, when I am so old?’

¹⁴Is anything too difficult for the LORD? At the appointed time I will return to you, at this time next year, and Sarah will have a son.”

¹⁵Sarah denied it, however, saying, “I did not laugh”; for she was afraid. And He said, “No, but you did laugh.”

¹⁶Then the men rose up from there, and looked down toward Sodom; and Abraham was walking with them to send them off.

¹⁷The LORD said, “Shall I hide from Abraham what I am about to do,

¹⁸since Abraham will certainly become a great and mighty nation, and in him all the nations of the earth will be blessed?

¹⁹For I have chosen him, so that he may command his children and his household after him to keep the way of the LORD by doing righteousness and justice, so that the LORD may bring upon Abraham what He has spoken about him.”

²⁰And the LORD said, “The outcry of Sodom and Gomorrah is indeed great, and their sin is exceedingly grave.

²¹I will go down now and see whether they have done entirely as the outcry, which has come to Me indicates; and if not, I will know.”

²²Then the men turned away from there and went toward Sodom, while Abraham was still standing before the LORD.

²³Abraham approached and said, “Will You indeed sweep away the righteous with the wicked?

²⁴Suppose there are fifty righteous people within the city; will You indeed sweep it away and not spare the place for the sake of the fifty righteous who are in it?

²⁵Far be it from You to do such a thing, to kill the righteous with the wicked, so that the righteous and the wicked are treated alike. Far be it from You! Shall not the Judge of all the earth deal justly?”

²⁶So the LORD said, “If I find in Sodom fifty righteous within the city, then I will spare the entire place on their account.”

²⁷And Abraham replied, “Now behold, I have ventured to speak to the Lord, although I am only dust and ashes.

²⁸Suppose the fifty righteous are lacking five, will You destroy the entire city because of five?” And He said, “I will not destroy it if I find forty-five there.”

²⁹And he spoke to Him yet again and said, “Suppose forty are found there?” And He said, “I will not do it on account of the forty.”

³⁰Then he said, “Oh may the Lord not be angry, and I shall speak; suppose thirty are found there?” And He said, “I will not do it if I find thirty there.”

³¹And he said, “Now behold, I have ventured to speak to the Lord; suppose twenty are found there?” And He said, “I will not destroy it on account of the twenty.”

³²Then he said, “Oh may the Lord not be angry, and I shall speak only this once: suppose ten are found there?” And He said, “I will not destroy it on account of the ten.”

³³As soon as He had finished speaking to Abraham the LORD departed, and Abraham returned to his place.

¹And when I came to you, brothers and sisters, I did not come as someone superior in speaking ability or wisdom, as I proclaimed to you the testimony of God.

²For I determined to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ, and Him crucified.

³I also was with you in weakness and fear, and in great trembling,

⁴and my message and my preaching were not in persuasive words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power,

⁵so that your faith would not rest on the wisdom of mankind, but on the power of God.

⁶Yet we do speak wisdom among those who are mature; a wisdom, however, not of this age nor of the rulers of this age, who are passing away;

⁷but we speak God’s wisdom in a mystery, the hidden wisdom which God predestined before the ages to our glory;

⁸the wisdom which none of the rulers of this age has understood; for if they had understood it, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory;

⁹but just as it is written: “THINGS WHICH EYE HAS NOT SEEN AND EAR HAS NOT HEARD, AND which have not entered the human heart, ALL THAT GOD HAS PREPARED FOR THOSE WHO LOVE HIM.”

¹⁰For to us God revealed them through the Spirit; for the Spirit searches all things, even the depths of God.

¹¹For who among people knows the thoughts of a person except the spirit of the person that is in him? So also the thoughts of God no one knows, except the Spirit of God.

¹²Now we have not received the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, so that we may know the things freely given to us by God.

¹³We also speak these things, not in words taught by human wisdom, but in those taught by the Spirit, combining spiritual thoughts with spiritual words.

¹⁴But a natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually discerned.

¹⁵But the one who is spiritual discerns all things, yet he himself is discerned by no one.

¹⁶For WHO HAS KNOWN THE MIND OF THE LORD, THAT HE WILL INSTRUCT HIM? But we have the mind of Christ.

¹I solemnly exhort you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and by His appearing and His kingdom:

²preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; correct, rebuke, and exhort, with great patience and instruction.

³For the time will come when they will not tolerate sound doctrine; but wanting to have their ears tickled, they will accumulate for themselves teachers in accordance with their own desires,

⁴and they will turn their ears away from the truth and will turn aside to myths.

⁵But as for you, use self-restraint in all things, endure hardship, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry.

⁶For I am already being poured out as a drink offering, and the time of my departure has come.

⁷I have fought the good fight, I have finished the course, I have kept the faith;

⁸in the future there is reserved for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day; and not only to me, but also to all who have loved His appearing.

⁹Make every effort to come to me soon;

¹⁰for Demas, having loved this present world, has deserted me and gone to Thessalonica; Crescens has gone to Galatia, Titus to Dalmatia.

¹¹Only Luke is with me. Take along Mark and bring him with you, for he is useful to me for service.

¹²But I have sent Tychicus to Ephesus.

¹³When you come, bring the overcoat which I left at Troas with Carpus, and the books, especially the parchments.

¹⁴Alexander the coppersmith did me great harm; the Lord will repay him according to his deeds.

¹⁵Be on guard against him yourself too, for he vigorously opposed our teaching.

¹⁶At my first defense no one supported me, but all deserted me; may it not be counted against them.

¹⁷But the Lord stood with me and strengthened me, so that through me the proclamation might be fully accomplished, and that all the Gentiles might hear; and I was rescued out of the lion’s mouth.

¹⁸The Lord will rescue me from every evil deed, and will bring me safely to His heavenly kingdom; to Him be the glory forever and ever. Amen.

¹⁹Greet Prisca and Aquila, and the household of Onesiphorus.

²⁰Erastus remained at Corinth, but I left Trophimus sick at Miletus.

²¹Make every effort to come before winter. Eubulus greets you, also Pudens, Linus, Claudia, and all the brothers and sisters.

²²The Lord be with your spirit. Grace be with you.

¹Then Bildad the Shuhite responded,

²“How long will you hunt for words? Show understanding, and then we can talk.

³Why are we regarded as animals, As stupid in your eyes?

⁴You who tear yourself in your anger— Should the earth be abandoned for your sake, Or the rock moved from its place?

⁵“Indeed, the light of the wicked goes out, And the spark from his fire does not shine.

⁶The light in his tent is darkened, And his lamp goes out above him.

⁷His vigorous stride is shortened, And his own plan brings him down.

⁸For he is thrown into the net by his own feet, And he steps on the webbing.

⁹A snare seizes him by the heel, And a trap snaps shut on him.

¹⁰A noose for him is hidden in the ground, And a trap for him on the pathway.

¹¹All around sudden terrors frighten him, And harass him at every step.

¹²His strength is famished, And disaster is ready at his side.

¹³It devours parts of his skin, The firstborn of death devours his limbs.

¹⁴He is torn from the security of his tent, And they march him before the king of terrors.

¹⁵Nothing of his dwells in his tent; Brimstone is scattered on his home.

¹⁶His roots are dried below, And his branch withers above.

¹⁷The memory of him perishes from the earth, And he has no name abroad.

¹⁸He is driven from light into darkness, And chased from the inhabited world.

¹⁹He has no offspring or descendants among his people, Nor any survivor where he resided.

²⁰Those in the west are appalled at his fate, And those in the east are seized with horror.

²¹Certainly these are the dwellings of the wicked, And this is the place of him who does not know God.”

¹“I love You, LORD, my strength.”

²The LORD is my rock and my fortress and my savior, My God, my rock, in whom I take refuge; My shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.

³I call upon the LORD, who is worthy to be praised, And I am saved from my enemies.

⁴The ropes of death encompassed me, And the torrents of destruction terrified me.

⁵The ropes of Sheol surrounded me; The snares of death confronted me.

⁶In my distress I called upon the LORD, And cried to my God for help; He heard my voice from His temple, And my cry for help before Him came into His ears.

⁷Then the earth shook and quaked; And the foundations of the mountains were trembling And were shaken, because He was angry.

⁸Smoke went up out of His nostrils, And fire from His mouth was devouring; Coals burned from it.

⁹He also bowed the heavens down low, and came down With thick darkness under His feet.

¹⁰He rode on a cherub and flew; And He sped on the wings of the wind.

¹¹He made darkness His hiding place, His canopy around Him, Darkness of waters, thick clouds.

¹²From the brightness before Him passed His thick clouds, Hailstones and coals of fire.

¹³The LORD also thundered in the heavens, And the Most High uttered His voice, Hailstones and coals of fire.

¹⁴He sent out His arrows, and scattered them, And lightning flashes in abundance, and routed them.

¹⁵Then the channels of water appeared, And the foundations of the world were exposed By Your rebuke, LORD, At the blast of the breath of Your nostrils.

¹⁶He sent from on high, He took me; He drew me out of many waters.

¹⁷He saved me from my strong enemy, And from those who hated me, for they were too mighty for me.

¹⁸They confronted me in the day of my disaster, But the LORD was my support.

¹⁹He also brought me out into an open place; He rescued me, because He delighted in me.

²⁰The LORD has rewarded me according to my righteousness; According to the cleanness of my hands He has repaid me.

²¹For I have kept the ways of the LORD, And have not acted wickedly against my God.

²²For all His judgments were before me, And I did not put away His statutes from me.

²³I was also blameless with Him, And I kept myself from my wrongdoing.

²⁴Therefore the LORD has repaid me according to my righteousness, According to the cleanness of my hands in His eyes.

²⁵With the faithful You show Yourself faithful; With the blameless You prove Yourself blameless;

²⁶With the pure You show Yourself pure, And with the crooked You show Yourself astute.

²⁷For You save an afflicted people, But You humiliate haughty eyes.

²⁸For You light my lamp; The LORD my God illumines my darkness.

²⁹For by You I can run at a troop of warriors; And by my God I can leap over a wall.

³⁰As for God, His way is blameless; The word of the LORD is refined; He is a shield to all who take refuge in Him.

³¹For who is God, but the LORD? And who is a rock, except our God,

³²The God who encircles me with strength, And makes my way blameless?

³³He makes my feet like deer’s feet, And sets me up on my high places.

³⁴He trains my hands for battle, So that my arms can bend a bow of bronze.

³⁵You have also given me the shield of Your salvation, And Your right hand upholds me; And Your gentleness makes me great.

³⁶You enlarge my steps under me, And my feet have not slipped.

³⁷I pursued my enemies and overtook them, And I did not turn back until they were consumed.

³⁸I shattered them, so that they were not able to rise; They fell under my feet.

³⁹For You have encircled me with strength for battle; You have forced those who rose up against me to bow down under me.

⁴⁰You have also made my enemies turn their backs to me, And I destroyed those who hated me.

⁴¹They cried for help, but there was no one to save, They cried to the LORD, but He did not answer them.

⁴²Then I beat them fine like the dust before the wind; I emptied them out like the mud of the streets.

⁴³You have rescued me from the contentions of the people; You have placed me as head of the nations; A people whom I have not known serve me.

⁴⁴As soon as they hear, they obey me; Foreigners pretend to obey me.

⁴⁵Foreigners lose heart, And come trembling out of their fortresses.

⁴⁶The LORD lives, and blessed be my rock; And exalted be the God of my salvation,

⁴⁷The God who executes vengeance for me, And subdues peoples under me.

⁴⁸He rescues me from my enemies; You indeed lift me above those who rise up against me; You rescue me from a violent man.

⁴⁹Therefore I will give thanks to You among the nations, LORD, And I will sing praises to Your name.

⁵⁰He gives great salvation to His king, And shows faithfulness to His anointed, To David and his descendants forever.

¹One who separates himself seeks his own desire; He quarrels against all sound wisdom.

²A fool does not delight in understanding, But in revealing his own mind.

³When a wicked person comes, contempt also comes, And with dishonor comes taunting.

⁴The words of a person’s mouth are deep waters; The fountain of wisdom is a bubbling brook.

⁵To show partiality to the wicked is not good, Nor to suppress the righteous in judgment.

⁶A fool’s lips bring strife, And his mouth invites beatings.

⁷A fool’s mouth is his ruin, And his lips are the snare of his soul.

⁸The words of a gossiper are like dainty morsels, And they go down into the innermost parts of the body.

⁹He also who is lax in his work Is a brother to him who destroys.

¹⁰The name of the LORD is a strong tower; The righteous runs into it and is safe.

¹¹A rich person’s wealth is his strong city, And like a high wall in his own imagination.

¹²Before destruction the heart of a person is haughty, But humility goes before honor.

¹³One who gives an answer before he hears, It is foolishness and shame to him.

¹⁴The spirit of a person can endure his sickness, But as for a broken spirit, who can endure it?

¹⁵The mind of the discerning acquires knowledge, And the ear of the wise seeks knowledge.

¹⁶A person’s gift makes room for him And brings him before great people.

¹⁷The first to plead his case seems right, Until another comes and examines him.

¹⁸The cast lot puts an end to quarrels, And decides between the mighty ones.

¹⁹A brother who is offended is harder to be won than a strong city, And quarrels are like the bars of a citadel.

²⁰With the fruit of a person’s mouth his stomach will be satisfied; He will be satisfied with the product of his lips.

²¹Death and life are in the power of the tongue, And those who love it will eat its fruit.

²²He who finds a wife finds a good thing And obtains favor from the LORD.

²³A poor person utters pleadings, But a rich person answers defiantly.

²⁴A person of too many friends comes to ruin, But there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother.

¹Then the whole congregation of the sons of Israel assembled at Shiloh, and set up the tent of meeting there; and the land was subdued before them.

²But there remained among the sons of Israel seven tribes who had not divided their inheritance.

³So Joshua said to the sons of Israel, “How long will you put off entering to take possession of the land which the LORD, the God of your fathers, has given you?

⁴Provide for yourselves three men from each tribe so that I may send them, and that they may arise and walk through the land and write a description of it according to their inheritance; then they shall return to me.

⁵And they shall divide it into seven portions; Judah shall stay in its territory on the south, and the house of Joseph shall stay in their territory on the north.

⁶And you shall write a description of the land in seven divisions, and bring the description here to me. Then I will cast lots for you here before the LORD our God.

⁷For the Levites have no portion among you, because the priesthood of the LORD is their inheritance. Gad, Reuben, and the half-tribe of Manasseh also have received their inheritance eastward beyond the Jordan, which Moses the servant of the LORD gave them.”

⁸Then the men arose and went, and Joshua commanded those who went to write a description of the land, saying, “Go and walk through the land and write a description of it, and return to me; then I will cast lots for you here before the LORD in Shiloh.”

⁹So the men went and passed through the land, and wrote a description of it by cities in seven divisions in a book; and they came to Joshua at the camp at Shiloh.

¹⁰Joshua then cast lots for them in Shiloh before the LORD, and there Joshua divided the land for the sons of Israel according to their divisions.

¹¹Now the lot of the tribe of the sons of Benjamin came up according to their families, and the territory of their lot lay between the sons of Judah and the sons of Joseph.

¹²Their border on the north side was from the Jordan, then the border went up to the side of Jericho on the north, and went up through the hill country westward, and it ended at the wilderness of Beth-aven.

¹³Then from there the border continued to Luz, to the side of Luz (that is, Bethel) southward; and the border went down to Ataroth-addar, near the hill which lies on the south of lower Beth-horon.

¹⁴And the border changed direction from there and turned around on the west side southward, from the hill which lies opposite Beth-horon southward; and it ended at Kiriath-baal (that is, Kiriath-jearim), a city of the sons of Judah. This was the west side.

¹⁵Then the south side was from the edge of Kiriath-jearim, and the border went westward and went to the fountain of the waters of Nephtoah.

¹⁶Then the border went down to the edge of the hill which is in the Valley of Ben-hinnom, which is in the Valley of Rephaim northward; and it went down to the Valley of Hinnom, to the slope of the Jebusite southward, and went down to En-rogel.

¹⁷Then it turned northward and went to En-shemesh, and went to Geliloth, which is opposite the ascent of Adummim, and it went down to the stone of Bohan the son of Reuben.

¹⁸And it continued to the side in front of the Arabah northward, and went down to the Arabah.

¹⁹Then the border continued to the side of Beth-hoglah northward; and the border ended at the north bay of the Salt Sea, at the south end of the Jordan. This was the southern border.

²⁰Moreover, the Jordan was its border on the east side. This was the inheritance of the sons of Benjamin according to their families, and according to its borders all around.

²¹Now the cities of the tribe of the sons of Benjamin according to their families were Jericho, Beth-hoglah, and Emek-keziz,

²²Beth-arabah, Zemaraim, and Bethel,

²³Avvim, Parah, and Ophrah,

²⁴Chephar-ammoni, Ophni, and Geba; twelve cities with their villages.

²⁵Gibeon, Ramah, and Beeroth,

²⁶Mizpeh, Chephirah, and Mozah,

²⁷Rekem, Irpeel, and Taralah,

²⁸Zelah, Haeleph, the Jebusite city (that is, Jerusalem), Gibeah, Kiriath; fourteen cities with their villages. This is the inheritance of the sons of Benjamin according to their families.

¹Woe, land of whirring wings Which lies beyond the rivers of Cush,

²Which sends messengers by the sea, Even in papyrus vessels on the surface of the waters. Go, swift messengers, to a nation tall and smooth, To a people feared far and wide, A powerful and oppressive nation Whose land the rivers divide.

³All you who inhabit the world, and live on earth, As soon as a flag is raised on the mountains, you will see it, And as soon as the trumpet is blown, you will hear it.

⁴For this is what the LORD has told me: “I will quietly look from My dwelling place Like dazzling heat in the sunshine, Like a cloud of dew in the heat of harvest.”

⁵For before the harvest, as soon as the bud blossoms And the flower becomes a ripening grape, He will cut off the shoots with pruning knives, And remove and tear away the spreading branches.

⁶They will be left together for mountain birds of prey, And for the animals of the earth; And the birds of prey will spend the summer feeding on them, And all the animals of the earth will spend harvest time on them.

⁷At that time a gift of tribute will be brought to the LORD of armies From a people tall and smooth, From a people feared far and wide, A powerful and oppressive nation, Whose land the rivers divide— To the place of the name of the LORD of armies, to Mount Zion.

¹After these events Paul left Athens and went to Corinth.

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

³and because he was of the same trade he stayed with them, and they worked together, for they were tent-makers by trade.

⁴And Paul was reasoning in the synagogue every Sabbath and trying to persuade Jews and Greeks.

⁵But when Silas and Timothy came down from Macedonia, Paul began devoting himself completely to the word, testifying to the Jews that Jesus was the Christ.

⁶But when they resisted and blasphemed, he shook out his garments and said to them, “Your blood is on your own heads! I am clean. 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, whose house was next door to the synagogue.

⁸Crispus, the leader of the synagogue, believed in the Lord together with his entire household; and many of the Corinthians, as they listened to Paul, were believing and being baptized.

⁹And the Lord said to Paul by a vision at night, “Do not be afraid any longer, but go on speaking and do not be silent;

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

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

¹²But while Gallio was proconsul of Achaia, the Jews rose up together against Paul and brought him before the judgment seat,

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

¹⁴But when Paul was about to open his mouth, Gallio said to the Jews, “If it were a matter of some crime or vicious, unscrupulous act, O Jews, it would be reasonable for me to put up with you;

¹⁵but if there are questions about teaching and persons and your own law, see to it yourselves; I am unwilling to be a judge of these matters.”

¹⁶And he drove them away from the judgment seat.

¹⁷But they all took hold of Sosthenes, the leader of the synagogue, and began beating him in front of the judgment seat. And yet Gallio was not concerned about any of these things.

¹⁸Now Paul, when he had remained many days longer, took leave of the brothers and sisters and sailed away to Syria, and Priscilla and Aquila were with him. Paul first had his hair cut at Cenchrea, for he was keeping a vow.

¹⁹They came to Ephesus, and he left them there. Now he himself entered the synagogue and reasoned with the Jews.

²⁰When they asked him to stay for a longer time, he did not consent,

²¹but took leave of them and said, “I will return to you again if God wills,” and he set sail from Ephesus.

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

²³And after spending some time there, he left and passed successively through the Galatian region and Phrygia, strengthening all the disciples.

²⁴Now a Jew named Apollos, an Alexandrian by birth, an eloquent man, came to Ephesus; and he was proficient in the Scriptures.

²⁵This man had been instructed in the way of the Lord; and being fervent in spirit, he was accurately speaking and teaching things about Jesus, being acquainted only with the baptism of John;

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

²⁷And when he wanted to go across to Achaia, the brothers encouraged him and wrote to the disciples to welcome him; and when he had arrived, he greatly helped those who had believed through grace,

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