Professor Horner’s Reading Plan

¹When Jesus had finished these words, He left Galilee and came into the region of Judea beyond the Jordan;

²and large crowds followed Him, and He healed them there.

³Some Pharisees came to Jesus, testing Him and asking, “Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife for any reason at all?”

⁴And He answered and said, “Have you not read that He who created them from the beginning MADE THEM MALE AND FEMALE,

⁵and said, ‘FOR THIS REASON A MAN SHALL LEAVE HIS FATHER AND HIS MOTHER AND BE JOINED TO HIS WIFE, AND THE TWO SHALL BECOME ONE FLESH’?

⁶So they are no longer two, but one flesh. Therefore, what God has joined together, no person is to separate.”

⁷They *said to Him, “Why, then, did Moses command to GIVE her a certificate of divorce and send her away?”

⁸He *said to them, “Because of your hardness of heart Moses permitted you todivorce your wives; but from the beginning it has not been this way.

⁹And I say to you, whoeverdivorces his wife, except for sexual immorality, and marries another womancommits adultery.”

¹⁰The disciples *said to Him, “If the relationship of the man with his wife is like this, it is better not to marry.”

¹¹But He said to them, “Not all men can accept this statement, but only those to whom it has been given.

¹²For there are eunuchs who were born that way from their mother’s womb; and there are eunuchs who were made eunuchs by people; and there are also eunuchs who made themselves eunuchs for the sake of the kingdom of heaven. The one who is able to accept this, let him accept it.”

¹³Then some children were brought to Him so that He would lay His hands on them and pray; and the disciples rebuked them.

¹⁴But Jesus said, “Leave the children alone, and do notforbid them to come to Me; for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these.”

¹⁵After laying His hands on them, He departed from there.

¹⁶And someone came to Him and said, “Teacher, what good thing shall I do so that I may obtain eternal life?”

¹⁷And He said to him, “Why are you asking Me about what is good? There is only One who is good; but if you want to enter life, keep the commandments.”

¹⁸Then he *said to Him, “Which ones?” And Jesus said, “YOU SHALL NOT COMMIT MURDER; YOU SHALL NOT COMMIT ADULTERY; YOU SHALL NOT STEAL; YOU SHALL NOT GIVE FALSE TESTIMONY;

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 am I still lacking?”

²¹Jesus said to him, “If you want to becomplete, go and sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me.”

²²But when the young man heard this statement, he went away grieving; for he was one who owned much property.

²³And Jesus said to His disciples, “Truly I say to you, it will be hard for a rich person to enter the kingdom of heaven.

²⁴And again I say to 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 very astonished and said, “Then who can be saved?”

²⁶And looking at them, Jesus said to them, “With people this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.”

²⁷Then Peter responded and said to Him, “Behold, we have left everything and followed You; what then will there be for us?”

²⁸And Jesus said to them, “Truly I say to you, that you who have followed Me, in theregeneration when the Son of Man will sit onHis glorious throne, you also shall sit upon twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel.

²⁹And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or motheror children or farms on account of My name, will receivemany times as much, and will inherit eternal life.

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

¹Now the two angels came to Sodom in the evening as Lot was sitting at the gate of Sodom. When Lot saw them, he stood up to meet them and bowed down with his face to the ground.

²And he said, “Now behold, my lords, please turn aside into your servant’s house, and spend the night, and wash your feet; then you may rise early and go on your way.” They said, “No, but we shall spend the night in the public square.”

³Yet he strongly urged them, so they turned aside to him and entered his house; and he prepared a feast for them and baked unleavened bread, and they ate.

⁴Before they lay down, the men of the city—the men of Sodom—surrounded the house, both young and old, all the people from every quarter;

⁵and they called to Lot and said to him, “Where are the men who came to you tonight? Bring them out to us that we may have relations with them.”

⁶But Lot went out to them at the doorway, and shut the door behind him,

⁷and said, “Please, my brothers, do not act wickedly.

⁸Now look, I have two daughters who have not had relations with any man; please let me bring them out to you, and do to them whatever you like; only do not do anything to these men, because they have come under the shelter of my roof.”

⁹But they said, “Get out of the way!” They also said, “This one came in as a foreigner, and already he is acting like a judge; now we will treat you worse than them!” So they pressed hard against Lot and moved forward to break the door.

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

¹¹Then they struck the men who were at the doorway of the house with blindness, from the small to the great, so that they became weary of trying to find the doorway.

¹²Then the two men said to Lot, “Whom else do you have here? A son-in-law and your sons and daughters, and whomever you have in the city, bring them out of the place;

¹³for we are about to destroy this place, because their outcry has become so great before the LORD that the LORD has sent us to destroy it.”

¹⁴So Lot went out and spoke to his sons-in-law, who were to marry his daughters, and said, “Up, get out of this place, for the LORD is destroying the city.” But he appeared to his sons-in-law to be joking.

¹⁵When morning dawned, the angels urged Lot, saying, “Up, take your wife and your two daughters who are here, or you will be swept away in the punishment of the city.”

¹⁶But he hesitated. So the men grasped his hand and the hand of his wife and the hands of his two daughters, because the compassion of the LORD was upon him; and they brought him out and put him outside the city.

¹⁷When they had brought them outside, one said, “Escape for your life! Do not look behind you, and do not stay anywhere in the surrounding area; escape to the mountains, or you will be swept away.”

¹⁸But Lot said to them, “Oh no, my lords!

¹⁹Now behold, your servant has found favor in your sight, and you have magnified your compassion, which you have shown me by saving my life; but I cannot escape to the mountains, for the disaster will overtake me and I will die;

²⁰now behold, this town is near enough to flee to, and it is small. Please, let me escape there (is it not small?) so that my life may be saved.”

²¹And he said to him, “Behold, I grant you this request also, not to overthrow the town of which you have spoken.

²²Hurry, escape there, for I cannot do anything until you arrive there.” Therefore the town was named Zoar.

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

²⁴Then the LORD rained brimstone and fire on Sodom and Gomorrah from the LORD out of heaven,

²⁵and He overthrew those cities, and all the surrounding area, and all the inhabitants of the cities, and what grew on the ground.

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

²⁷Now Abraham got up early in the morning and went 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 surrounding area; and behold, he saw the smoke of the land ascended like the smoke of a furnace.

²⁹So it came about, when God destroyed the cities of the surrounding area, that God remembered Abraham, and sent Lot out of the midst of the destruction, when He overthrew the cities in which Lot had lived.

³⁰Now Lot went up from Zoar with his two daughters and stayed in the mountains, because he was afraid to stay in Zoar; and he stayed in a cave, he and his two daughters.

³¹Then the firstborn said to the younger, “Our father is old, and there is not a man on earth to have relations with us according to the custom of all the earth.

³²Come, let’s make our father drink wine, and let’s sleep with him so that we may keep our family alive through our father.”

³³So they made their father drink wine that night, and the firstborn went in and slept with her father; and he did not know when she lay down or got up.

³⁴On the following day, the firstborn said to the younger, “Look, I slept last night with my father; let’s make him drink wine tonight too, then you go in and sleep with him, so that we may keep our family alive through our father.”

³⁵So they had their father drink wine that night too, and the younger got up and slept with him; and he did not know when she lay down or got up.

³⁶And so both of the daughters of Lot conceived by their father.

³⁷The firstborn gave birth to a son, and named him Moab; he is the father of the Moabites to this day.

³⁸As for the younger, she also gave birth to a son, and named him Ben-ammi; he is the father of the sons of Ammon to this day.

¹And I, brothers and sisters, could not speak to you as spiritual people, but only as fleshly, as to infants in Christ.

²I gave you milk to drink, not solid food; for you were not yet able to consume it. But even now you are not yet able,

³for you are still fleshly. For since there is jealousy and strife among you, are you not fleshly, and are you not walking like ordinary people?

⁴For when one person says, “I am with Paul,” and another, “I am with Apollos,” are you not ordinary people?

⁵What then is Apollos? And what is Paul? Servants through whom you believed, even as the Lord gave opportunity to each one.

⁶I planted, Apollos watered, but God was causing the growth.

⁷So then neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but God who causes the growth.

⁸Now the one who plants and the one who waters are one; but each will receive his own reward according to his own labor.

⁹For we are God’s fellow workers; you are God’s field, God’s building.

¹⁰According to the grace of God which was given to me, like a wise master builder I laid a foundation, and another is building on it. But each person must be careful how he builds on it.

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

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

¹³each one’s work will become evident; for the day will show it because it is to be revealed with fire, and the fire itself will test the quality of each one’s work.

¹⁴If anyone’s work which he has built on it remains, he will receive a reward.

¹⁵If anyone’s work is burned up, he will suffer loss; but he himself will be saved, yet only so as through fire.

¹⁶Do you not know that you are a temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you?

¹⁷If anyone destroys the temple of God, God will destroy that person; for the temple of God is holy, and that is what you are.

¹⁸Take care that no one deceives himself. If anyone among you thinks that he is wise in this age, he must become foolish, so that he may become wise.

¹⁹For the wisdom of this world is foolishness in the sight of God. For it is written: “He is THE ONE WHO CATCHES THE WISE BY THEIR CRAFTINESS”;

²⁰and again, “THE LORD KNOWS THE THOUGHTS of the wise, THAT THEY ARE useless.”

²¹So then, no one is to be boasting in people. For all things belong to you,

²²whether Paul or Apollos or Cephas, or the world or life or death, or things present or things to come; all things belong to you,

²³and you belong to Christ, and Christ belongs to God.

¹Paul, a bond-servant of God and an apostle of Jesus Christ, for the faith of those chosen of God and the knowledge of the truth which is according to godliness,

²in the hope of eternal life, which God, who cannot lie, promised long ages ago,

³but at the proper time revealed His word in the proclamation with which I was entrusted according to the commandment of God our Savior;

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

⁵For this reason I left you in Crete, that you would set in order what remains and appoint elders in every city as I directed you,

⁶namely, if any man is beyond reproach, the husband of one wife, having children who believe, not accused of indecent behavior or rebellion.

⁷For the overseer must be beyond reproach as God’s steward, not self-willed, not quick-tempered, not overindulging in wine, not a bully, not greedy for money,

⁸but hospitable, loving what is good, self-controlled, righteous, holy, disciplined,

⁹holding firmly the faithful word which is in accordance with the teaching, so that he will be able both to exhort in sound doctrine and to refute those who contradict it.

¹⁰For there are many rebellious people, empty talkers and deceivers, especially those of the circumcision,

¹¹who must be silenced because they are upsetting whole families, teaching things they should not teach for the sake of dishonest gain.

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

¹³This testimony is true. For this reason reprimand them severely so that they may be sound in the faith,

¹⁴not paying attention to Jewish myths and commandments of men who turn away from the truth.

¹⁵To the pure, all things are pure; but to those who are defiled and unbelieving, nothing is pure, but both their mind and their conscience are defiled.

¹⁶They profess to know God, but by their deeds they deny Him, being detestable and disobedient and worthless for any good deed.

¹Then Job responded,

²“How long will you torment me And crush me with words?

³These ten times you have insulted me; You are not ashamed to wrong me.

⁴Even if I have truly done wrong, My error stays with me.

⁵If indeed you exalt yourselves against me And prove my disgrace to me,

⁶Know then that God has wronged me And has surrounded me with His net.

⁷“Behold, I cry, ‘Violence!’ but I get no answer; I shout for help, but there is no justice.

⁸He has blocked my way so that I cannot pass, And He has put darkness on my paths.

⁹He has stripped my honor from me And removed the crown from my head.

¹⁰He breaks me down on every side, and I am gone; And He has uprooted my hope like a tree.

¹¹He has also kindled His anger against me And considered me as His enemy.

¹²His troops come together And build up their way against me And camp around my tent.

¹³“He has removed my brothers far from me, And my acquaintances have completely turned away from me.

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

¹⁵Those who live in my house and my servant women consider me a stranger. I am a foreigner in their sight.

¹⁶I call to my servant, but he does not answer; I have to implore his favor with my mouth.

¹⁷My breath is offensive to my wife, And I am loathsome to my own brothers.

¹⁸Even young children despise me; I stand up and they speak against me.

¹⁹All my associates loathe me, And those I love have turned against me.

²⁰My bone clings to my skin and my flesh, And I have escaped only by the skin of my teeth.

²¹Pity me, pity me, you friends of mine, For the hand of God has struck me.

²²Why do you persecute me as God does, And are not satisfied with my flesh?

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

²⁴That with an iron stylus and lead They were engraved in the rock forever!

²⁵Yet as for me, I know that my Redeemer lives, And at the last, He will take His stand on the earth.

²⁶Even after my skin is destroyed, Yet from my flesh I will see God,

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

²⁸If you say, ‘How shall we persecute him?’ And ‘What pretext for a case against him can we find?’

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

¹The heavens tell of the glory of God; And their expanse declares the work of His hands.

²Day to day pours forth speech, And night to night reveals knowledge.

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

⁴Their line has gone out into all the earth, And their words to the end of the world. In them He has placed a tent for the sun,

⁵Which is like a groom coming out of his chamber; It rejoices like a strong person to run his course.

⁶Its rising is from one end of the heavens, And its circuit to the other end of them; And there is nothing hidden from its heat.

⁷The Law of the LORD is perfect, restoring 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 judgments of the LORD are true; they are righteous altogether.

¹⁰They are more desirable than gold, yes, than much pure gold; Sweeter also than honey and drippings of the honeycomb.

¹¹Moreover, Your servant is warned by them; In keeping them there is great reward.

¹²Who can discern his errors? Acquit me of hidden faults.

¹³Also keep Your servant back from presumptuous sins; Let them not rule over me; Then I will be innocent, And I will be blameless of great wrongdoing.

¹⁴May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart Be acceptable in Your sight, LORD, my rock and my Redeemer.

¹Better is a poor person who walks in his integrity Than a person who is perverse in speech and is a fool.

²Also it is not good for a person to be without knowledge, And one who hurries his footsteps errs.

³The foolishness of a person ruins his way, And his heart rages against the LORD.

⁴Wealth adds many friends, But a poor person is separated from his friend.

⁵A false witness will not go unpunished, And one who declares lies will not escape.

⁶Many will seek the favor of a generous person, And every person is a friend to him who gives gifts.

⁷All the brothers of a poor person hate him; How much more do his friends abandon him! He pursues them with words, but they are gone.

⁸One who gets wisdom loves his own soul; One who keeps understanding will find good.

⁹A false witness will not go unpunished, And one who declares lies will perish.

¹⁰Luxury is not fitting for a fool; Much less for a slave to rule over princes.

¹¹A person’s discretion makes him slow to anger, And it is his glory to overlook an offense.

¹²A king’s wrath is like the roaring of a lion, But his favor is like dew on the grass.

¹³A foolish son is destruction to his father, And the quarrels of a wife are a constant dripping.

¹⁴House and wealth are an inheritance from fathers, But a prudent wife is from the LORD.

¹⁵Laziness casts one into a deep sleep, And a lazy person will suffer hunger.

¹⁶One who keeps the commandment keeps his soul, But one who is careless of conduct will die.

¹⁷One who is gracious to a poor person lends to the LORD, And He will repay him for his good deed.

¹⁸Discipline your son while there is hope, And do not desire his death.

¹⁹A person of great anger will suffer the penalty, For if you rescue him, you will only have to do it again.

²⁰Listen to advice and accept discipline, So that you may be wise the rest of your days.

²¹Many plans are in a person’s heart, But the advice of the LORD will stand.

²²What is desirable in a person is his kindness, And it is better to be a poor person than a liar.

²³The fear of the LORD leads to life, So that one may sleep satisfied, untouched by evil.

²⁴The lazy one buries his hand in the dish, But will not even bring it back to his mouth.

²⁵Strike a scoffer and the naive may become clever, But rebuke one who has understanding, and he will gain knowledge.

²⁶He who assaults his father and drives his mother away Is a shameful and disgraceful son.

²⁷Stop listening, my son, to discipline, And you will stray from the words of knowledge.

²⁸A worthless witness makes a mockery of justice, And the mouth of the wicked swallows wrongdoing.

²⁹Judgments are prepared for scoffers, And beatings for the backs of fools.

¹Then the second lot went to Simeon, to the tribe of the sons of Simeon according to their families; and their inheritance was in the midst of the inheritance of the sons of Judah.

²So they had in their inheritance Beersheba or Sheba and Moladah,

³Hazar-shual, Balah, and Ezem,

⁴Eltolad, Bethul, and Hormah,

⁵Ziklag, Beth-marcaboth, and Hazar-susah,

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

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

⁸and all the villages which were around these cities as far as Baalath-beer, Ramah of the Negev. This was the inheritance of the tribe of the sons of Simeon according to their families.

⁹The inheritance of the sons of Simeon was taken from the portion of the sons of Judah, because the share of the sons of Judah was too large for them; so the sons of Simeon received an inheritance in the midst of Judah’s inheritance.

¹⁰Now the third lot came up for the sons of Zebulun according to their families. And the territory of their inheritance was as far as Sarid.

¹¹Then their border went up to the west and to Maralah, and it reached Dabbesheth and reached to the brook that is opposite Jokneam.

¹²Then it turned from Sarid to the east toward the sunrise as far as the border of Chisloth-tabor, and it proceeded to Daberath and up to Japhia.

¹³From there it continued eastward toward the sunrise to Gath-hepher, to Eth-kazin, and it proceeded to Rimmon which stretches to Neah.

¹⁴Then the border circled around it on the north to Hannathon, and it ended at the Valley of Iphtahel.

¹⁵Included also were Kattah, Nahalal, Shimron, Idalah, and Bethlehem; twelve cities with their villages.

¹⁶This was the inheritance of the sons of Zebulun according to their families, these cities with their villages.

¹⁷The fourth lot went to Issachar, to the sons of Issachar according to their families.

¹⁸Their territory was to Jezreel and included Chesulloth, Shunem,

¹⁹Hapharaim, Shion, and Anaharath,

²⁰Rabbith, Kishion, and Ebez,

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

²²The border reached to Tabor, Shahazumah, and Beth-shemesh, and their border ended at the Jordan; sixteen cities with their villages.

²³This was the inheritance of the tribe of the sons of Issachar according to their families, the cities with their villages.

²⁴Now the fifth lot went to the tribe of the sons of Asher according to their families.

²⁵Their territory was Helkath, Hali, Beten, and Achshaph,

²⁶Allammelech, Amad, and Mishal; and it reached to Carmel on the west and Shihor-libnath.

²⁷It turned toward the east to Beth-dagon and reached Zebulun, and to the Valley of Iphtahel northward to Beth-emek and Neiel; then it proceeded on north to Cabul,

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

²⁹The border turned to Ramah and to the fortified city of Tyre; then the border turned to Hosah, and it ended at the sea by the region of Achzib.

³⁰Included also were Ummah, Aphek, and Rehob; twenty-two cities with their villages.

³¹This was the inheritance of the tribe of the sons of Asher according to their families, these cities with their villages.

³²The sixth lot went to the sons of Naphtali; to the sons of Naphtali according to their families.

³³Their border was from Heleph, from the oak in Zaanannim, and Adami-nekeb and Jabneel, as far as Lakkum, and it ended at the Jordan.

³⁴Then the border turned westward to Aznoth-tabor and proceeded from there to Hukkok; and it reached Zebulun on the south and reached Asher on the west, and Judah at the Jordan toward the east.

³⁵The fortified cities were Ziddim, Zer, Hammath, Rakkath, and Chinnereth,

³⁶Adamah, Ramah, and Hazor,

³⁷Kedesh, Edrei, and En-hazor,

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

³⁹This was the inheritance of the tribe of the sons of Naphtali according to their families, the cities with their villages.

⁴⁰The seventh lot went to the tribe of the sons of Dan according to their families.

⁴¹The territory of their inheritance was Zorah, Eshtaol, and Ir-shemesh,

⁴²Shaalabbin, Aijalon, and Ithlah,

⁴³Elon, Timnah, and Ekron,

⁴⁴Eltekeh, Gibbethon, and Baalath,

⁴⁵Jehud, Bene-berak, and Gath-rimmon,

⁴⁶Me-jarkon, and Rakkon, with the territory opposite Joppa.

⁴⁷The territory of the sons of Dan proceeded beyond them; for the sons of Dan went up and fought with Leshem and captured it. Then they struck it with the edge of the sword and took possession of it and settled in it; and they named Leshem Dan after the name of their father Dan.

⁴⁸This was the inheritance of the tribe of the sons of Dan according to their families, these cities with their villages.

⁴⁹When they finished apportioning the land for inheritance by its borders, the sons of Israel gave an inheritance among them to Joshua the son of Nun.

⁵⁰In accordance with the command of the LORD, they gave him the city for which he asked, Timnath-serah in the hill country of Ephraim. So he built the city and settled in it.

⁵¹These are the inheritances which Eleazar the priest, Joshua the son of Nun, and the heads of the fathers’ households of the tribes of the sons of Israel apportioned by lot in Shiloh before the LORD at the doorway of the tent of meeting. So they finished dividing the land.

¹The pronouncement concerning Egypt: Behold, the LORD is riding on a swift cloud and is about to come to Egypt; The idols of Egypt will tremble at His presence, And the heart of the Egyptians will melt within them.

²“So I will incite Egyptians against Egyptians; And they will fight, each against his brother and each against his neighbor, City against city and kingdom against kingdom.

³Then the spirit of the Egyptians will be demoralized within them; And I will confuse their strategy, So that they will resort to idols and ghosts of the dead, And to mediums and spiritists.

⁴Furthermore, I will hand the Egyptians over to a cruel master, And a mighty king will rule over them,” declares the Lord GOD of armies.

⁵The waters from the sea will dry up, And the river will be parched and dry.

⁶The canals will emit a stench, The streams of Egypt will thin out and dry up; The reeds and rushes will rot away.

⁷The bulrushes by the Nile, by the edge of the Nile And all the sown fields by the Nile Will become dry, be driven away, and be no more.

⁸And the fishermen will grieve, And all those who cast a line into the Nile will mourn, And those who spread nets on the waters will dwindle away.

⁹Moreover, the manufacturers of linen made from combed flax And the weavers of white cloth will be utterly dejected.

¹⁰And the pillars of Egypt will be crushed; All the hired laborers will be grieved in soul.

¹¹The officials of Zoan are mere fools; The advice of Pharaoh’s wisest advisers has become stupid. How can you say to Pharaoh, “I am a son of the wise, a son of ancient kings”?

¹²Well then, where are your wise men? Please let them tell you, And let them understand what the LORD of armies Has planned against Egypt.

¹³The officials of Zoan have turned out to be fools, The officials of Memphis are deluded; Those who are the cornerstone of her tribes Have led Egypt astray.

¹⁴The LORD has mixed within her a spirit of distortion; They have led Egypt astray in all that it does, As a drunken person staggers in his vomit.

¹⁵There will be no work for Egypt Which its head or tail, its palm branch or bulrush, may do.

¹⁶On that day the Egyptians will become like women, and they will tremble and be in great fear because of the waving of the hand of the LORD of armies, which He is going to wave over them.

¹⁷The land of Judah will become a cause of shame to Egypt; everyone to whom it is mentioned will be in great fear because of the plan of the LORD of armies which He is making against them.

¹⁸On that day five cities in the land of Egypt will be speaking the language of Canaan and swearing allegiance to the LORD of armies; one will be called the City of Destruction.

¹⁹On that day there will be an altar to the LORD in the midst of the land of Egypt, and a memorial stone to the LORD beside its border.

²⁰And it will become a sign and a witness to the LORD of armies in the land of Egypt; for they will cry out to the LORD because of oppressors, and He will send them a Savior and a Champion, and He will save them.

²¹So the LORD will make Himself known to Egypt, and the Egyptians will know the LORD on that day. They will even worship with sacrifice and offering, and will make a vow to the LORD and perform it.

²²And the LORD will strike Egypt, striking but healing; so they will return to the LORD, and He will respond to their pleas and heal them.

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

²⁴On that day Israel will be the third party to Egypt and Assyria, a blessing in the midst of the earth,

²⁵whom the LORD of armies has blessed, saying, “Blessed is Egypt My people, and Assyria the work of My hands, and Israel My inheritance.”

¹Now it happened that while Apollos was in Corinth, Paul passed through the upper country and came to Ephesus, and found some disciples.

²He said to them, “Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?” And they said to him, “On the contrary, we have not even heard if there is a Holy Spirit.”

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

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

⁵When they heard this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus.

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

⁷There were about twelve men in all.

⁸And he entered the synagogue and continued speaking out boldly for three months, having discussions and persuading them about the kingdom of God.

⁹But when some were becoming hardened and disobedient, speaking evil of the Way before the people, he withdrew from them and took the disciples away with him, and had discussions daily in the school of Tyrannus.

¹⁰This took place for two years, so that all who lived in Asia heard the word of the Lord, both Jews and Greeks.

¹¹God was performing extraordinary miracles by the hands of Paul,

¹²so that handkerchiefs or aprons were even carried from his body to the sick, and the diseases left them and the evil spirits went out.

¹³But also some of the Jewish exorcists, who went from place to place, attempted to use the name of the Lord Jesus over those who had the evil spirits, saying, “I order you in the name of Jesus whom Paul preaches!”

¹⁴Now there were seven sons of Sceva, a Jewish chief priest, doing this.

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

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

¹⁷This became known to all who lived in Ephesus, both Jews and Greeks; and fear fell upon them all and the name of the Lord Jesus was being magnified.

¹⁸Also many of those who had believed kept coming, confessing and disclosing their practices.

¹⁹And many of those who practiced magic brought their books together and began burning them in the sight of everyone; and they added up the prices of the books and found it to be fifty thousand pieces of silver.

²⁰So the word of the Lord was growing and prevailing mightily.

²¹Now after these things were finished, Paul resolved in the Spirit to go to Jerusalem after he had passed through Macedonia and Achaia, saying, “After I have been there, I must also see Rome.”

²²And after he sent into Macedonia two of those who assisted him, Timothy and Erastus, he himself stayed in Asia for a while.

²³About that time a major disturbance occurred in regard to the Way.

²⁴For a man named Demetrius, a silversmith who made silver shrines of Artemis, was bringing considerable business to the craftsmen;

²⁵he gathered these men together with the workmen of similar trades, and said, “Men, you know that our prosperity depends upon this business.

²⁶You see and hear that not only in Ephesus, but in almost all of Asia, this Paul has persuaded and turned away a considerable number of people, saying that gods made by hands are not gods at all.

²⁷Not only is there danger that this trade of ours will fall into disrepute, but also that the temple of the great goddess Artemis will be regarded as worthless, and that she whom all of Asia and the world worship will even be dethroned from her magnificence.”

²⁸When they heard this and were filled with rage, they began shouting, saying, “Great is Artemis of the Ephesians!”

²⁹The city was filled with the confusion, and they rushed together into the theater, dragging along Gaius and Aristarchus, Paul’s Macedonian traveling companions.

³⁰And when Paul wanted to go into the assembly, the disciples would not let him.

³¹Also some of the Asiarchs who were friends of his sent word to him and repeatedly urged him not to venture into the theater.

³²So then, some were shouting one thing and some another, for the assembly was in confusion and the majority did not know for what reason they had come together.

³³Some of the crowd concluded it was Alexander, since the Jews had put him forward; and having motioned with his hand, Alexander was intending to make a defense to the assembly.

³⁴But when they recognized that he was a Jew, a single outcry arose from them all as they shouted for about two hours, “Great is Artemis of the Ephesians!”

³⁵After quieting the crowd, the town clerk *said, “Men of Ephesus, what person is there after all who does not know that the city of the Ephesians is guardian of the temple of the great Artemis and of the image which fell down from the sky?

³⁶So, since these are undeniable facts, you ought to keep calm and to do nothing rash.

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

³⁸So then, if Demetrius and the craftsmen who are with him have a complaint against anyone, the courts are in session and proconsuls are available; have them bring charges against one another.

³⁹But if you want anything beyond this, it shall be settled in the lawful assembly.

⁴⁰For indeed, we are in danger of being accused of a riot in connection with today’s events, since there is no real reason for it, and in this connection we will be unable to account for this disorderly gathering.”

⁴¹After saying this he dismissed the assembly.