Professor Horner’s Reading Plan

¹Now when Jesus had finished these sayings, he went away from Galilee and entered the region of Judea beyond the Jordan.

²And large crowds followed him, and he healed them there.

³And Pharisees came up to him and tested him by asking, “Is it lawful to divorce one's wife for any cause?”

⁴He answered, “Have you not read that he who created them from the beginning made them male and female,

⁵and said, ‘Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh’?

⁶So they are no longer two but one flesh. What therefore God has joined together, let not man separate.”

⁷They said to him, “Why then did Moses command one to give a certificate of divorce and to send her away?”

⁸He said to them, “Because of your hardness of heart Moses allowed you to divorce your wives, but from the beginning it was not so.

⁹ And I say to you: whoever divorces his wife, except for sexual immorality, and marries another, commits adultery.”

¹⁰The disciples said to him, “If such is the case of a man with his wife, it is better not to marry.”

¹¹But he said to them, “Not everyone can receive this saying, but only those to whom it is given.

¹²For there are eunuchs who have been so from birth, and there are eunuchs who have been made eunuchs by men, and there are eunuchs who have made themselves eunuchs for the sake of the kingdom of heaven. Let the one who is able to receive this receive it.”

¹³Then children were brought to him that he might lay his hands on them and pray. The disciples rebuked the people,

¹⁴but Jesus said, “Let the little children come to me and do not hinder them, for to such belongs the kingdom of heaven.”

¹⁵And he laid his hands on them and went away.

¹⁶And behold, a man came up to him, saying, “Teacher, what good deed must I do to have eternal life?”

¹⁷And he said to him, “Why do you ask me about what is good? There is only one who is good. If you would enter life, keep the commandments.”

¹⁸He said to him, “Which ones?” And Jesus said, “You shall not murder, You shall not commit adultery, You shall not steal, You shall not bear false witness,

¹⁹Honor your father and mother, and, You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”

²⁰The young man said to him, “All these I have kept. What do I still lack?”

²¹Jesus said to him, “If you would be perfect, go, sell what you possess and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me.”

²²When the young man heard this he went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions.

²³And Jesus said to his disciples, “Truly, I say to you, only with difficulty will a rich person enter the kingdom of heaven.

²⁴ Again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God.”

²⁵When the disciples heard this, they were greatly astonished, saying, “Who then can be saved?”

²⁶But Jesus looked at them and said, “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.”

²⁷Then Peter said in reply, “See, we have left everything and followed you. What then will we have?”

²⁸Jesus said to them, “Truly, I say to you, in the new world, when the Son of Man will sit on his glorious throne, you who have followed me will also sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel.

²⁹ And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or lands, for my name's sake, will receive a hundredfold and will inherit eternal life.

³⁰But many who are first will be last, and the last first.

¹The two angels came to Sodom in the evening, and Lot was sitting in the gate of Sodom. When Lot saw them, he rose to meet them and bowed himself with his face to the earth

²and said, “My lords, please turn aside to your servant's house and spend the night and wash your feet. Then you may rise up early and go on your way.” They said, “No; we will spend the night in the town square.”

³But he pressed them strongly; so they turned aside to him and entered his house. And he made them a feast and baked unleavened bread, and they ate.

⁴But before they lay down, the men of the city, the men of Sodom, both young and old, all the people to the last man, surrounded the house.

⁵And they called to Lot, “Where are the men who came to you tonight? Bring them out to us, that we may know them.”

⁶Lot went out to the men at the entrance, shut the door after him,

⁷and said, “I beg you, my brothers, do not act so wickedly.

⁸Behold, I have two daughters who have not known any man. Let me bring them out to you, and do to them as you please. Only do nothing to these men, for they have come under the shelter of my roof.”

⁹But they said, “Stand back!” And they said, “This fellow came to sojourn, and he has become the judge! Now we will deal worse with you than with them.” Then they pressed hard against the man Lot, and drew near to break the door down.

¹⁰But the men reached out their hands and brought Lot into the house with them and shut the door.

¹¹And they struck with blindness the men who were at the entrance of the house, both small and great, so that they wore themselves out groping for the door.

¹²Then the men said to Lot, “Have you anyone else here? Sons-in-law, sons, daughters, or anyone you have in the city, bring them out of the place.

¹³For we are about to destroy this place, because the outcry against its people has become great before the LORD, and the LORD has sent us to destroy it.”

¹⁴So Lot went out and said to his sons-in-law, who were to marry his daughters, “Up! Get out of this place, for the LORD is about to destroy the city.” But he seemed to his sons-in-law to be jesting.

¹⁵As morning dawned, the angels urged Lot, saying, “Up! Take your wife and your two daughters who are here, lest you be swept away in the punishment of the city.”

¹⁶But he lingered. So the men seized him and his wife and his two daughters by the hand, the LORD being merciful to him, and they brought him out and set him outside the city.

¹⁷And as they brought them out, one said, “Escape for your life. Do not look back or stop anywhere in the valley. Escape to the hills, lest you be swept away.”

¹⁸And Lot said to them, “Oh, no, my lords.

¹⁹Behold, your servant has found favor in your sight, and you have shown me great kindness in saving my life. But I cannot escape to the hills, lest the disaster overtake me and I die.

²⁰Behold, this city is near enough to flee to, and it is a little one. Let me escape there — is it not a little one? — and my life will be saved!”

²¹He said to him, “Behold, I grant you this favor also, that I will not overthrow the city of which you have spoken.

²²Escape there quickly, for I can do nothing till you arrive there.” Therefore the name of the city was called Zoar.

²³The sun had risen on the earth when Lot came to Zoar.

²⁴Then the LORD rained on Sodom and Gomorrah sulfur and fire from the LORD out of heaven.

²⁵And he overthrew those cities, and all the valley, and all the inhabitants of the cities, and what grew on the ground.

²⁶But Lot's wife, behind him, looked back, and she became a pillar of salt.

²⁷And Abraham went early in the morning to the place where he had stood before the LORD.

²⁸And he looked down toward Sodom and Gomorrah and toward all the land of the valley, and he looked and, behold, the smoke of the land went up like the smoke of a furnace.

²⁹So it was that, when God destroyed the cities of the valley, God remembered Abraham and sent Lot out of the midst of the overthrow when he overthrew the cities in which Lot had lived.

³⁰Now Lot went up out of Zoar and lived in the hills with his two daughters, for he was afraid to live in Zoar. So he lived in a cave with his two daughters.

³¹And the firstborn said to the younger, “Our father is old, and there is not a man on earth to come in to us after the manner of all the earth.

³²Come, let us make our father drink wine, and we will lie with him, that we may preserve offspring from our father.”

³³So they made their father drink wine that night. And the firstborn went in and lay with her father. He did not know when she lay down or when she arose.

³⁴The next day, the firstborn said to the younger, “Behold, I lay last night with my father. Let us make him drink wine tonight also. Then you go in and lie with him, that we may preserve offspring from our father.”

³⁵So they made their father drink wine that night also. And the younger arose and lay with him, and he did not know when she lay down or when she arose.

³⁶Thus both the daughters of Lot became pregnant by their father.

³⁷The firstborn bore a son and called his name Moab. He is the father of the Moabites to this day.

³⁸The younger also bore a son and called his name Ben-ammi. He is the father of the Ammonites to this day.

¹But I, brothers, could not address you as spiritual people, but as people of the flesh, as infants in Christ.

²I fed you with milk, not solid food, for you were not ready for it. And even now you are not yet ready,

³for you are still of the flesh. For while there is jealousy and strife among you, are you not of the flesh and behaving only in a human way?

⁴For when one says, “I follow Paul,” and another, “I follow Apollos,” are you not being merely human?

⁵What then is Apollos? What is Paul? Servants through whom you believed, as the Lord assigned to each.

⁶I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth.

⁷So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God who gives the growth.

⁸He who plants and he who waters are one, and each will receive his wages according to his labor.

⁹For we are God's fellow workers. You are God's field, God's building.

¹⁰According to the grace of God given to me, like a skilled master builder I laid a foundation, and someone else is building upon it. Let each one take care how he builds upon it.

¹¹For no one can lay a foundation other than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ.

¹²Now if anyone builds on the foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw —

¹³each one's work will become manifest, for the Day will disclose it, because it will be revealed by fire, and the fire will test what sort of work each one has done.

¹⁴If the work that anyone has built on the foundation survives, he will receive a reward.

¹⁵If anyone's work is burned up, he will suffer loss, though he himself will be saved, but only as through fire.

¹⁶Do you not know that you are God's temple and that God's Spirit dwells in you?

¹⁷If anyone destroys God's temple, God will destroy him. For God's temple is holy, and you are that temple.

¹⁸Let no one deceive himself. If anyone among you thinks that he is wise in this age, let him become a fool that he may become wise.

¹⁹For the wisdom of this world is folly with God. For it is written, “He catches the wise in their craftiness,”

²⁰and again, “The Lord knows the thoughts of the wise, that they are futile.”

²¹So let no one boast in men. For all things are yours,

²²whether Paul or Apollos or Cephas or the world or life or death or the present or the future — all are yours,

²³and you are Christ's, and Christ is God's.

¹Paul, a servant of God and an apostle of Jesus Christ, for the sake of the faith of God's elect and their knowledge of the truth, which accords with godliness,

²in hope of eternal life, which God, who never lies, promised before the ages began

³and at the proper time manifested in his word through the preaching with which I have been entrusted by the command of God our Savior;

⁴To Titus, my true child in a common faith: Grace and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Savior.

⁵This is why I left you in Crete, so that you might put what remained into order, and appoint elders in every town as I directed you —

⁶if anyone is above reproach, the husband of one wife, and his children are believers and not open to the charge of debauchery or insubordination.

⁷For an overseer, as God's steward, must be above reproach. He must not be arrogant or quick-tempered or a drunkard or violent or greedy for gain,

⁸but hospitable, a lover of good, self-controlled, upright, holy, and disciplined.

⁹He must hold firm to the trustworthy word as taught, so that he may be able to give instruction in sound doctrine and also to rebuke those who contradict it.

¹⁰For there are many who are insubordinate, empty talkers and deceivers, especially those of the circumcision party.

¹¹They must be silenced, since they are upsetting whole families by teaching for shameful gain what they ought not to teach.

¹²One of the Cretans, a prophet of their own, said, “Cretans are always liars, evil beasts, lazy gluttons.”

¹³This testimony is true. Therefore rebuke them sharply, that they may be sound in the faith,

¹⁴not devoting themselves to Jewish myths and the commands of people who turn away from the truth.

¹⁵To the pure, all things are pure, but to the defiled and unbelieving, nothing is pure; but both their minds and their consciences are defiled.

¹⁶They profess to know God, but they deny him by their works. They are detestable, disobedient, unfit for any good work.

¹Then Job answered and said:

²“How long will you torment me and break me in pieces with words?

³These ten times you have cast reproach upon me; are you not ashamed to wrong me?

⁴And even if it be true that I have erred, my error remains with myself.

⁵If indeed you magnify yourselves against me and make my disgrace an argument against me,

⁶know then that God has put me in the wrong and closed his net about me.

⁷Behold, I cry out, ‘Violence!’ but I am not answered; I call for help, but there is no justice.

⁸He has walled up my way, so that I cannot pass, and he has set darkness upon my paths.

⁹He has stripped from me my glory and taken the crown from my head.

¹⁰He breaks me down on every side, and I am gone, and my hope has he pulled up like a tree.

¹¹He has kindled his wrath against me and counts me as his adversary.

¹²His troops come on together; they have cast up their siege ramp against me and encamp around my tent.

¹³“He has put my brothers far from me, and those who knew me are wholly estranged from me.

¹⁴My relatives have failed me, my close friends have forgotten me.

¹⁵The guests in my house and my maidservants count me as a stranger; I have become a foreigner in their eyes.

¹⁶I call to my servant, but he gives me no answer; I must plead with him with my mouth for mercy.

¹⁷My breath is strange to my wife, and I am a stench to the children of my own mother.

¹⁸Even young children despise me; when I rise they talk against me.

¹⁹All my intimate friends abhor me, and those whom I loved have turned against me.

²⁰My bones stick to my skin and to my flesh, and I have escaped by the skin of my teeth.

²¹Have mercy on me, have mercy on me, O you my friends, for the hand of God has touched me!

²²Why do you, like God, pursue me? Why are you not satisfied with my flesh?

²³“Oh that my words were written! Oh that they were inscribed in a book!

²⁴Oh that with an iron pen and lead they were engraved in the rock forever!

²⁵For I know that my Redeemer lives, and at the last he will stand upon the earth.

²⁶And after my skin has been thus destroyed, yet in my flesh I shall see God,

²⁷whom I shall see for myself, and my eyes shall behold, and not another. My heart faints within me!

²⁸If you say, ‘How we will pursue him!’ and, ‘The root of the matter is found in him,’

²⁹be afraid of the sword, for wrath brings the punishment of the sword, that you may know there is a judgment.”

¹The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims his handiwork.

²Day to day pours out speech, and night to night reveals knowledge.

³There is no speech, nor are there words, whose voice is not heard.

⁴Their voice goes out through all the earth, and their words to the end of the world. In them he has set a tent for the sun,

⁵which comes out like a bridegroom leaving his chamber, and, like a strong man, runs its course with joy.

⁶Its rising is from the end of the heavens, and its circuit to the end of them, and there is nothing hidden from its heat.

⁷The law of the LORD is perfect, reviving the soul; the testimony of the LORD is sure, making wise the simple;

⁸the precepts of the LORD are right, rejoicing the heart; the commandment of the LORD is pure, enlightening the eyes;

⁹the fear of the LORD is clean, enduring forever; the rules of the LORD are true, and righteous altogether.

¹⁰More to be desired are they than gold, even much fine gold; sweeter also than honey and drippings of the honeycomb.

¹¹Moreover, by them is your servant warned; in keeping them there is great reward.

¹²Who can discern his errors? Declare me innocent from hidden faults.

¹³Keep back your servant also from presumptuous sins; let them not have dominion over me! Then I shall be blameless, and innocent of great transgression.

¹⁴Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in your sight, O LORD, my rock and my redeemer.

¹Better is a poor person who walks in his integrity than one who is crooked in speech and is a fool.

²Desire without knowledge is not good, and whoever makes haste with his feet misses his way.

³When a man's folly brings his way to ruin, his heart rages against the LORD.

⁴Wealth brings many new friends, but a poor man is deserted by his friend.

⁵A false witness will not go unpunished, and he who breathes out lies will not escape.

⁶Many seek the favor of a generous man, and everyone is a friend to a man who gives gifts.

⁷All a poor man's brothers hate him; how much more do his friends go far from him! He pursues them with words, but does not have them.

⁸Whoever gets sense loves his own soul; he who keeps understanding will discover good.

⁹A false witness will not go unpunished, and he who breathes out lies will perish.

¹⁰It is not fitting for a fool to live in luxury, much less for a slave to rule over princes.

¹¹Good sense makes one slow to anger, and it is his glory to overlook an offense.

¹²A king's wrath is like the growling of a lion, but his favor is like dew on the grass.

¹³A foolish son is ruin to his father, and a wife's quarreling is a continual dripping of rain.

¹⁴House and wealth are inherited from fathers, but a prudent wife is from the LORD.

¹⁵Slothfulness casts into a deep sleep, and an idle person will suffer hunger.

¹⁶Whoever keeps the commandment keeps his life; he who despises his ways will die.

¹⁷Whoever is generous to the poor lends to the LORD, and he will repay him for his deed.

¹⁸Discipline your son, for there is hope; do not set your heart on putting him to death.

¹⁹A man of great wrath will pay the penalty, for if you deliver him, you will only have to do it again.

²⁰Listen to advice and accept instruction, that you may gain wisdom in the future.

²¹Many are the plans in the mind of a man, but it is the purpose of the LORD that will stand.

²²What is desired in a man is steadfast love, and a poor man is better than a liar.

²³The fear of the LORD leads to life, and whoever has it rests satisfied; he will not be visited by harm.

²⁴The sluggard buries his hand in the dish and will not even bring it back to his mouth.

²⁵Strike a scoffer, and the simple will learn prudence; reprove a man of understanding, and he will gain knowledge.

²⁶He who does violence to his father and chases away his mother is a son who brings shame and reproach.

²⁷Cease to hear instruction, my son, and you will stray from the words of knowledge.

²⁸A worthless witness mocks at justice, and the mouth of the wicked devours iniquity.

²⁹Condemnation is ready for scoffers, and beating for the backs of fools.

¹The second lot came out for Simeon, for the tribe of the people of Simeon, according to their clans, and their inheritance was in the midst of the inheritance of the people of Judah.

²And they had for their inheritance Beersheba, Sheba, Moladah,

³Hazar-shual, Balah, Ezem,

⁴Eltolad, Bethul, Hormah,

⁵Ziklag, Beth-marcaboth, Hazar-susah,

⁶Beth-lebaoth, and Sharuhen — thirteen cities with their villages;

⁷Ain, Rimmon, Ether, and Ashan — four cities with their villages,

⁸together with all the villages around these cities as far as Baalath-beer, Ramah of the Negeb. This was the inheritance of the tribe of the people of Simeon according to their clans.

⁹The inheritance of the people of Simeon formed part of the territory of the people of Judah. Because the portion of the people of Judah was too large for them, the people of Simeon obtained an inheritance in the midst of their inheritance.

¹⁰The third lot came up for the people of Zebulun, according to their clans. And the territory of their inheritance reached as far as Sarid.

¹¹Then their boundary goes up westward and on to Mareal and touches Dabbesheth, then the brook that is east of Jokneam.

¹²From Sarid it goes in the other direction eastward toward the sunrise to the boundary of Chisloth-tabor. From there it goes to Daberath, then up to Japhia.

¹³From there it passes along on the east toward the sunrise to Gath-hepher, to Eth-kazin, and going on to Rimmon it bends toward Neah,

¹⁴then on the north the boundary turns about to Hannathon, and it ends at the Valley of Iphtahel;

¹⁵and Kattath, Nahalal, Shimron, Idalah, and Bethlehem — twelve cities with their villages.

¹⁶This is the inheritance of the people of Zebulun, according to their clans — these cities with their villages.

¹⁷The fourth lot came out for Issachar, for the people of Issachar, according to their clans.

¹⁸Their territory included Jezreel, Chesulloth, Shunem,

¹⁹Hapharaim, Shion, Anaharath,

²⁰Rabbith, Kishion, Ebez,

²¹Remeth, En-gannim, En-haddah, Beth-pazzez.

²²The boundary also touches Tabor, Shahazumah, and Beth-shemesh, and its boundary ends at the Jordan — sixteen cities with their villages.

²³This is the inheritance of the tribe of the people of Issachar, according to their clans — the cities with their villages.

²⁴The fifth lot came out for the tribe of the people of Asher according to their clans.

²⁵Their territory included Helkath, Hali, Beten, Achshaph,

²⁶Allammelech, Amad, and Mishal. On the west it touches Carmel and Shihor-libnath,

²⁷then it turns eastward, it goes to Beth-dagon, and touches Zebulun and the Valley of Iphtahel northward to Beth-emek and Neiel. Then it continues in the north to Cabul,

²⁸Ebron, Rehob, Hammon, Kanah, as far as Sidon the Great.

²⁹Then the boundary turns to Ramah, reaching to the fortified city of Tyre. Then the boundary turns to Hosah, and it ends at the sea; Mahalab, Achzib,

³⁰Ummah, Aphek and Rehob — twenty-two cities with their villages.

³¹This is the inheritance of the tribe of the people of Asher according to their clans — these cities with their villages.

³²The sixth lot came out for the people of Naphtali, for the people of Naphtali, according to their clans.

³³And their boundary ran from Heleph, from the oak in Zaanannim, and Adami-nekeb, and Jabneel, as far as Lakkum, and it ended at the Jordan.

³⁴Then the boundary turns westward to Aznoth-tabor and goes from there to Hukkok, touching Zebulun at the south and Asher on the west and Judah on the east at the Jordan.

³⁵The fortified cities are Ziddim, Zer, Hammath, Rakkath, Chinnereth,

³⁶Adamah, Ramah, Hazor,

³⁷Kedesh, Edrei, En-hazor,

³⁸Yiron, Migdal-el, Horem, Beth-anath, and Beth-shemesh — nineteen cities with their villages.

³⁹This is the inheritance of the tribe of the people of Naphtali according to their clans — the cities with their villages.

⁴⁰The seventh lot came out for the tribe of the people of Dan, according to their clans.

⁴¹And the territory of its inheritance included Zorah, Eshtaol, Ir-shemesh,

⁴²Shaalabbin, Aijalon, Ithlah,

⁴³Elon, Timnah, Ekron,

⁴⁴Eltekeh, Gibbethon, Baalath,

⁴⁵Jehud, Bene-berak, Gath-rimmon,

⁴⁶and Me-jarkon and Rakkon with the territory over against Joppa.

⁴⁷When the territory of the people of Dan was lost to them, the people of Dan went up and fought against Leshem, and after capturing it and striking it with the sword they took possession of it and settled in it, calling Leshem, Dan, after the name of Dan their ancestor.

⁴⁸This is the inheritance of the tribe of the people of Dan, according to their clans — these cities with their villages.

⁴⁹When they had finished distributing the several territories of the land as inheritances, the people of Israel gave an inheritance among them to Joshua the son of Nun.

⁵⁰By command of the LORD they gave him the city that he asked, Timnath-serah in the hill country of Ephraim. And he rebuilt the city and settled in it.

⁵¹These are the inheritances that Eleazar the priest and Joshua the son of Nun and the heads of the fathers' houses of the tribes of the people of Israel distributed by lot at Shiloh before the LORD, at the entrance of the tent of meeting. So they finished dividing the land.

¹An oracle concerning Egypt. Behold, the LORD is riding on a swift cloud and comes to Egypt; and the idols of Egypt will tremble at his presence, and the heart of the Egyptians will melt within them.

²And I will stir up Egyptians against Egyptians, and they will fight, each against another and each against his neighbor, city against city, kingdom against kingdom;

³and the spirit of the Egyptians within them will be emptied out, and I will confound their counsel; and they will inquire of the idols and the sorcerers, and the mediums and the necromancers;

⁴and I will give over the Egyptians into the hand of a hard master, and a fierce king will rule over them, declares the Lord GOD of hosts.

⁵And the waters of the sea will be dried up, and the river will be dry and parched,

⁶and its canals will become foul, and the branches of Egypt's Nile will diminish and dry up, reeds and rushes will rot away.

⁷There will be bare places by the Nile, on the brink of the Nile, and all that is sown by the Nile will be parched, will be driven away, and will be no more.

⁸The fishermen will mourn and lament, all who cast a hook in the Nile; and they will languish who spread nets on the water.

⁹The workers in combed flax will be in despair, and the weavers of white cotton.

¹⁰Those who are the pillars of the land will be crushed, and all who work for pay will be grieved.

¹¹The princes of Zoan are utterly foolish; the wisest counselors of Pharaoh give stupid counsel. How can you say to Pharaoh, “I am a son of the wise, a son of ancient kings”?

¹²Where then are your wise men? Let them tell you that they might know what the LORD of hosts has purposed against Egypt.

¹³The princes of Zoan have become fools, and the princes of Memphis are deluded; those who are the cornerstones of her tribes have made Egypt stagger.

¹⁴The LORD has mingled within her a spirit of confusion, and they will make Egypt stagger in all its deeds, as a drunken man staggers in his vomit.

¹⁵And there will be nothing for Egypt that head or tail, palm branch or reed, may do.

¹⁶In that day the Egyptians will be like women, and tremble with fear before the hand that the LORD of hosts shakes over them.

¹⁷And the land of Judah will become a terror to the Egyptians. Everyone to whom it is mentioned will fear because of the purpose that the LORD of hosts has purposed against them.

¹⁸In that day there will be five cities in the land of Egypt that speak the language of Canaan and swear allegiance to the LORD of hosts. One of these will be called the City of Destruction.

¹⁹In that day there will be an altar to the LORD in the midst of the land of Egypt, and a pillar to the LORD at its border.

²⁰It will be a sign and a witness to the LORD of hosts in the land of Egypt. When they cry to the LORD because of oppressors, he will send them a savior and defender, and deliver them.

²¹And the LORD will make himself known to the Egyptians, and the Egyptians will know the LORD in that day and worship with sacrifice and offering, and they will make vows to the LORD and perform them.

²²And the LORD will strike Egypt, striking and healing, and they will return to the LORD, and he will listen to their pleas for mercy and heal them.

²³In that day there will be a highway from Egypt to Assyria, and Assyria will come into Egypt, and Egypt into Assyria, and the Egyptians will worship with the Assyrians.

²⁴In that day Israel will be the third with Egypt and Assyria, a blessing in the midst of the earth,

²⁵whom the LORD of hosts has blessed, saying, “Blessed be Egypt my people, and Assyria the work of my hands, and Israel my inheritance.”

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.