Professor Horner’s Reading Plan

¹When Jesus had finished saying these things, he left Galilee and went into the region of Judea to the other side of the Jordan.

²Large crowds followed him, and he healed them there.

³Some Pharisees came to him to test him. They asked, “Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife for any and every reason?”

⁴“Haven’t you read,” he replied, “that at the beginning the Creator ‘made them male and female,’

⁵and said, ‘For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh’?

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

⁷“Why then,” they asked, “did Moses command that a man give his wife a certificate of divorce and send her away?”

⁸Jesus replied, “Moses permitted you to divorce your wives because your hearts were hard. But it was not this way from the beginning.

⁹I tell you that anyone who divorces his wife, except for sexual immorality, and marries another woman commits adultery.”

¹⁰The disciples said to him, “If this is the situation between a husband and wife, it is better not to marry.”

¹¹Jesus replied, “Not everyone can accept this word, but only those to whom it has been given.

¹²For there are eunuchs who were born that way, and there are eunuchs who have been made eunuchs by others—and there are those who choose to live like eunuchs for the sake of the kingdom of heaven. The one who can accept this should accept it.”

¹³Then people brought little children to Jesus for him to place his hands on them and pray for them. But the disciples rebuked them.

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

¹⁵When he had placed his hands on them, he went on from there.

¹⁶Just then a man came up to Jesus and asked, “Teacher, what good thing must I do to get eternal life?”

¹⁷“Why do you ask me about what is good?” Jesus replied. “There is only One who is good. If you want to enter life, keep the commandments.”

¹⁸“Which ones?” he inquired. Jesus replied, “ ‘You shall not murder, you shall not commit adultery, you shall not steal, you shall not give false testimony,

¹⁹honor your father and mother,’ and ‘love your neighbor as yourself.’”

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

²¹Jesus answered, “If you want to be perfect, go, sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.”

²²When the young man heard this, he went away sad, because he had great wealth.

²³Then Jesus said to his disciples, “Truly I tell you, it is hard for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of heaven.

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

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

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

²⁷Peter answered him, “We have left everything to follow you! What then will there be for us?”

²⁸Jesus said to them, “Truly I tell you, at the renewal of all things, when the Son of Man sits on his glorious throne, you who have followed me will also sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel.

²⁹And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or wife or children or fields for my sake will receive a hundred times as much and will inherit eternal life.

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

¹The two angels arrived at Sodom in the evening, and Lot was sitting in the gateway of the city. When he saw them, he got up to meet them and bowed down with his face to the ground.

²“My lords,” he said, “please turn aside to your servant’s house. You can wash your feet and spend the night and then go on your way early in the morning.” “No,” they answered, “we will spend the night in the square.”

³But he insisted so strongly that they did go with him and entered his house. He prepared a meal for them, baking bread without yeast, and they ate.

⁴Before they had gone to bed, all the men from every part of the city of Sodom—both young and old—surrounded the house.

⁵They called to Lot, “Where are the men who came to you tonight? Bring them out to us so that we can have sex with them.”

⁶Lot went outside to meet them and shut the door behind him

⁷and said, “No, my friends. Don’t do this wicked thing.

⁸Look, I have two daughters who have never slept with a man. Let me bring them out to you, and you can do what you like with them. But don’t do anything to these men, for they have come under the protection of my roof.”

⁹“Get out of our way,” they replied. “This fellow came here as a foreigner, and now he wants to play the judge! We’ll treat you worse than them.” They kept bringing pressure on Lot and moved forward to break down the door.

¹⁰But the men inside reached out and pulled Lot back into the house and shut the door.

¹¹Then they struck the men who were at the door of the house, young and old, with blindness so that they could not find the door.

¹²The two men said to Lot, “Do you have anyone else here—sons-in-law, sons or daughters, or anyone else in the city who belongs to you? Get them out of here,

¹³because we are going to destroy this place. The outcry to the LORD against its people is so great that he has sent us to destroy it.”

¹⁴So Lot went out and spoke to his sons-in-law, who were pledged to marry his daughters. He said, “Hurry and get out of this place, because the LORD is about to destroy the city!” But his sons-in-law thought he was joking.

¹⁵With the coming of dawn, the angels urged Lot, saying, “Hurry! Take your wife and your two daughters who are here, or you will be swept away when the city is punished.”

¹⁶When he hesitated, the men grasped his hand and the hands of his wife and of his two daughters and led them safely out of the city, for the LORD was merciful to them.

¹⁷As soon as they had brought them out, one of them said, “Flee for your lives! Don’t look back, and don’t stop anywhere in the plain! Flee to the mountains or you will be swept away!”

¹⁸But Lot said to them, “No, my lords, please!

¹⁹Your servant has found favor in your eyes, and you have shown great kindness to me in sparing my life. But I can’t flee to the mountains; this disaster will overtake me, and I’ll die.

²⁰Look, here is a town near enough to run to, and it is small. Let me flee to it—it is very small, isn’t it? Then my life will be spared.”

²¹He said to him, “Very well, I will grant this request too; I will not overthrow the town you speak of.

²²But flee there quickly, because I cannot do anything until you reach it.” (That is why the town was called Zoar.)

²³By the time Lot reached Zoar, the sun had risen over the land.

²⁴Then the LORD rained down burning sulfur on Sodom and Gomorrah—from the LORD out of the heavens.

²⁵Thus he overthrew those cities and the entire plain, destroying all those living in the cities—and also the vegetation in the land.

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

²⁷Early the next morning Abraham got up and returned to the place where he had stood before the LORD.

²⁸He looked down toward Sodom and Gomorrah, toward all the land of the plain, and he saw dense smoke rising from the land, like smoke from a furnace.

²⁹So when God destroyed the cities of the plain, he remembered Abraham, and he brought Lot out of the catastrophe that overthrew the cities where Lot had lived.

³⁰Lot and his two daughters left Zoar and settled in the mountains, for he was afraid to stay in Zoar. He and his two daughters lived in a cave.

³¹One day the older daughter said to the younger, “Our father is old, and there is no man around here to give us children—as is the custom all over the earth.

³²Let’s get our father to drink wine and then sleep with him and preserve our family line through our father.”

³³That night they got their father to drink wine, and the older daughter went in and slept with him. He was not aware of it when she lay down or when she got up.

³⁴The next day the older daughter said to the younger, “Last night I slept with my father. Let’s get him to drink wine again tonight, and you go in and sleep with him so we can preserve our family line through our father.”

³⁵So they got their father to drink wine that night also, and the younger daughter went in and slept with him. Again he was not aware of it when she lay down or when she got up.

³⁶So both of Lot’s daughters became pregnant by their father.

³⁷The older daughter had a son, and she named him Moab; he is the father of the Moabites of today.

³⁸The younger daughter also had a son, and she named him Ben-Ammi; he is the father of the Ammonites of today.

¹Brothers and sisters, I could not address you as people who live by the Spirit but as people who are still worldly—mere infants in Christ.

²I gave you milk, not solid food, for you were not yet ready for it. Indeed, you are still not ready.

³You are still worldly. For since there is jealousy and quarreling among you, are you not worldly? Are you not acting like mere humans?

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

⁵What, after all, is Apollos? And what is Paul? Only servants, through whom you came to believe—as the Lord has assigned to each his task.

⁶I planted the seed, Apollos watered it, but God has been making it grow.

⁷So neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but only God, who makes things grow.

⁸The one who plants and the one who waters have one purpose, and they will each be rewarded according to their own labor.

⁹For we are co-workers in God’s service; you are God’s field, God’s building.

¹⁰By the grace God has given me, I laid a foundation as a wise builder, and someone else is building on it. But each one should build with care.

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

¹²If anyone builds on this foundation using gold, silver, costly stones, wood, hay or straw,

¹³their work will be shown for what it is, because the Day will bring it to light. It will be revealed with fire, and the fire will test the quality of each person’s work.

¹⁴If what has been built survives, the builder will receive a reward.

¹⁵If it is burned up, the builder will suffer loss but yet will be saved—even though only as one escaping through the flames.

¹⁶Don’t you know that you yourselves are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in your midst?

¹⁷If anyone destroys God’s temple, God will destroy that person; for God’s temple is sacred, and you together are that temple.

¹⁸Do not deceive yourselves. If any of you think you are wise by the standards of this age, you should become “fools” so that you may become wise.

¹⁹For the wisdom of this world is foolishness in God’s sight. As it is written: “He catches the wise in their craftiness”;

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

²¹So then, no more boasting about human leaders! 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 of Christ, and Christ is of God.

¹Paul, a servant of God and an apostle of Jesus Christ to further the faith of God’s elect and their knowledge of the truth that leads to godliness—

²in the hope of eternal life, which God, who does not lie, promised before the beginning of time,

³and which now at his appointed season he has brought to light through the preaching entrusted to me by the command of God our Savior,

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

⁵The reason I left you in Crete was that you might put in order what was left unfinished and appoint elders in every town, as I directed you.

⁶An elder must be blameless, faithful to his wife, a man whose children believe and are not open to the charge of being wild and disobedient.

⁷Since an overseer manages God’s household, he must be blameless—not overbearing, not quick-tempered, not given to drunkenness, not violent, not pursuing dishonest gain.

⁸Rather, he must be hospitable, one who loves what is good, who is self-controlled, upright, holy and disciplined.

⁹He must hold firmly to the trustworthy message as it has been taught, so that he can encourage others by sound doctrine and refute those who oppose it.

¹⁰For there are many rebellious people, full of meaningless talk and deception, especially those of the circumcision group.

¹¹They must be silenced, because they are disrupting whole households by teaching things they ought not to teach—and that for the sake of dishonest gain.

¹²One of Crete’s own prophets has said it: “Cretans are always liars, evil brutes, lazy gluttons.”

¹³This saying is true. Therefore rebuke them sharply, so that they will be sound in the faith

¹⁴and will pay no attention to Jewish myths or to the merely human commands of those who reject the truth.

¹⁵To the pure, all things are pure, but to those who are corrupted and do not believe, nothing is pure. In fact, both their minds and consciences are corrupted.

¹⁶They claim to know God, but by their actions they deny him. They are detestable, disobedient and unfit for doing anything good.

¹Then Job replied:

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

³Ten times now you have reproached me; shamelessly you attack me.

⁴If it is true that I have gone astray, my error remains my concern alone.

⁵If indeed you would exalt yourselves above me and use my humiliation against me,

⁶then know that God has wronged me and drawn his net around me.

⁷“Though I cry, ‘Violence!’ I get no response; though I call for help, there is no justice.

⁸He has blocked my way so I cannot pass; he has shrouded my paths in darkness.

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

¹⁰He tears me down on every side till I am gone; he uproots my hope like a tree.

¹¹His anger burns against me; he counts me among his enemies.

¹²His troops advance in force; they build a siege ramp against me and encamp around my tent.

¹³“He has alienated my family from me; my acquaintances are completely estranged from me.

¹⁴My relatives have gone away; my closest friends have forgotten me.

¹⁵My guests and my female servants count me a foreigner; they look on me as on a stranger.

¹⁶I summon my servant, but he does not answer, though I beg him with my own mouth.

¹⁷My breath is offensive to my wife; I am loathsome to my own family.

¹⁸Even the little boys scorn me; when I appear, they ridicule me.

¹⁹All my intimate friends detest me; those I love have turned against me.

²⁰I am nothing but skin and bones; I have escaped only by the skin of my teeth.

²¹“Have pity on me, my friends, have pity, for the hand of God has struck me.

²²Why do you pursue me as God does? Will you never get enough of my flesh?

²³“Oh, that my words were recorded, that they were written on a scroll,

²⁴that they were inscribed with an iron tool on lead, or engraved in rock forever!

²⁵I know that my redeemer lives, and that in the end he will stand on the earth.

²⁶And after my skin has been destroyed, yet in my flesh I will see God;

²⁷I myself will see him with my own eyes—I, and not another. How my heart yearns within me!

²⁸“If you say, ‘How we will hound him, since the root of the trouble lies in him,’

²⁹you should fear the sword yourselves; for wrath will bring punishment by the sword, and then you will know that there is judgment.”

¹For the director of music. A psalm of David. The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands.

²Day after day they pour forth speech; night after night they reveal knowledge.

³They have no speech, they use no words; no sound is heard from them.

⁴Yet their voice goes out into all the earth, their words to the ends of the world. In the heavens God has pitched a tent for the sun.

⁵It is like a bridegroom coming out of his chamber, like a champion rejoicing to run his course.

⁶It rises at one end of the heavens and makes its circuit to the other; nothing is deprived of its warmth.

⁷The law of the LORD is perfect, refreshing the soul. The statutes of the LORD are trustworthy, making wise the simple.

⁸The precepts of the LORD are right, giving joy to the heart. The commands of the LORD are radiant, giving light to the eyes.

⁹The fear of the LORD is pure, enduring forever. The decrees of the LORD are firm, and all of them are righteous.

¹⁰They are more precious than gold, than much pure gold; they are sweeter than honey, than honey from the honeycomb.

¹¹By them your servant is warned; in keeping them there is great reward.

¹²But who can discern their own errors? Forgive my hidden faults.

¹³Keep your servant also from willful sins; may they not rule over me. Then I will be blameless, innocent of great transgression.

¹⁴May these words of my mouth and this meditation of my heart be pleasing in your sight, LORD, my Rock and my Redeemer.

¹Better the poor whose walk is blameless than a fool whose lips are perverse.

²Desire without knowledge is not good— how much more will hasty feet miss the way!

³A person’s own folly leads to their ruin, yet their heart rages against the LORD.

⁴Wealth attracts many friends, but even the closest friend of the poor person deserts them.

⁵A false witness will not go unpunished, and whoever pours out lies will not go free.

⁶Many curry favor with a ruler, and everyone is the friend of one who gives gifts.

⁷The poor are shunned by all their relatives— how much more do their friends avoid them! Though the poor pursue them with pleading, they are nowhere to be found.

⁸The one who gets wisdom loves life; the one who cherishes understanding will soon prosper.

⁹A false witness will not go unpunished, and whoever pours out lies will perish.

¹⁰It is not fitting for a fool to live in luxury— how much worse for a slave to rule over princes!

¹¹A person’s wisdom yields patience; it is to one’s glory to overlook an offense.

¹²A king’s rage is like the roar of a lion, but his favor is like dew on the grass.

¹³A foolish child is a father’s ruin, and a quarrelsome wife is like the constant dripping of a leaky roof.

¹⁴Houses and wealth are inherited from parents, but a prudent wife is from the LORD.

¹⁵Laziness brings on deep sleep, and the shiftless go hungry.

¹⁶Whoever keeps commandments keeps their life, but whoever shows contempt for their ways will die.

¹⁷Whoever is kind to the poor lends to the LORD, and he will reward them for what they have done.

¹⁸Discipline your children, for in that there is hope; do not be a willing party to their death.

¹⁹A hot-tempered person must pay the penalty; rescue them, and you will have to do it again.

²⁰Listen to advice and accept discipline, and at the end you will be counted among the wise.

²¹Many are the plans in a person’s heart, but it is the LORD’s purpose that prevails.

²²What a person desires is unfailing love; better to be poor than a liar.

²³The fear of the LORD leads to life; then one rests content, untouched by trouble.

²⁴A sluggard buries his hand in the dish; he will not even bring it back to his mouth!

²⁵Flog a mocker, and the simple will learn prudence; rebuke the discerning, and they will gain knowledge.

²⁶Whoever robs their father and drives out their mother is a child who brings shame and disgrace.

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

²⁸A corrupt witness mocks at justice, and the mouth of the wicked gulps down evil.

²⁹Penalties are prepared for mockers, and beatings for the backs of fools.

¹The second lot came out for the tribe of Simeon according to its clans. Their inheritance lay within the territory of Judah.

²It included: Beersheba (or Sheba), Moladah,

³Hazar Shual, Balah, Ezem,

⁴Eltolad, Bethul, Hormah,

⁵Ziklag, Beth Markaboth, Hazar Susah,

⁶Beth Lebaoth and Sharuhen—thirteen towns and their villages;

⁷Ain, Rimmon, Ether and Ashan—four towns and their villages—

⁸and all the villages around these towns as far as Baalath Beer (Ramah in the Negev). This was the inheritance of the tribe of the Simeonites, according to its clans.

⁹The inheritance of the Simeonites was taken from the share of Judah, because Judah’s portion was more than they needed. So the Simeonites received their inheritance within the territory of Judah.

¹⁰The third lot came up for Zebulun according to its clans: The boundary of their inheritance went as far as Sarid.

¹¹Going west it ran to Maralah, touched Dabbesheth, and extended to the ravine near Jokneam.

¹²It turned east from Sarid toward the sunrise to the territory of Kisloth Tabor and went on to Daberath and up to Japhia.

¹³Then it continued eastward to Gath Hepher and Eth Kazin; it came out at Rimmon and turned toward Neah.

¹⁴There the boundary went around on the north to Hannathon and ended at the Valley of Iphtah El.

¹⁵Included were Kattath, Nahalal, Shimron, Idalah and Bethlehem. There were twelve towns and their villages.

¹⁶These towns and their villages were the inheritance of Zebulun, according to its clans.

¹⁷The fourth lot came out for Issachar according to its clans.

¹⁸Their territory included: Jezreel, Kesulloth, Shunem,

¹⁹Hapharaim, Shion, Anaharath,

²⁰Rabbith, Kishion, Ebez,

²¹Remeth, En Gannim, En Haddah and Beth Pazzez.

²²The boundary touched Tabor, Shahazumah and Beth Shemesh, and ended at the Jordan. There were sixteen towns and their villages.

²³These towns and their villages were the inheritance of the tribe of Issachar, according to its clans.

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

²⁵Their territory included: Helkath, Hali, Beten, Akshaph,

²⁶Allammelek, Amad and Mishal. On the west the boundary touched Carmel and Shihor Libnath.

²⁷It then turned east toward Beth Dagon, touched Zebulun and the Valley of Iphtah El, and went north to Beth Emek and Neiel, passing Kabul on the left.

²⁸It went to Abdon, Rehob, Hammon and Kanah, as far as Greater Sidon.

²⁹The boundary then turned back toward Ramah and went to the fortified city of Tyre, turned toward Hosah and came out at the Mediterranean Sea in the region of Akzib,

³⁰Ummah, Aphek and Rehob. There were twenty-two towns and their villages.

³¹These towns and their villages were the inheritance of the tribe of Asher, according to its clans.

³²The sixth lot came out for Naphtali according to its clans:

³³Their boundary went from Heleph and the large tree in Zaanannim, passing Adami Nekeb and Jabneel to Lakkum and ending at the Jordan.

³⁴The boundary ran west through Aznoth Tabor and came out at Hukkok. It touched Zebulun on the south, Asher on the west and the Jordan on the east.

³⁵The fortified towns were Ziddim, Zer, Hammath, Rakkath, Kinnereth,

³⁶Adamah, Ramah, Hazor,

³⁷Kedesh, Edrei, En Hazor,

³⁸Iron, Migdal El, Horem, Beth Anath and Beth Shemesh. There were nineteen towns and their villages.

³⁹These towns and their villages were the inheritance of the tribe of Naphtali, according to its clans.

⁴⁰The seventh lot came out for the tribe of Dan according to its clans.

⁴¹The territory of their inheritance included: Zorah, Eshtaol, Ir Shemesh,

⁴²Shaalabbin, Aijalon, Ithlah,

⁴³Elon, Timnah, Ekron,

⁴⁴Eltekeh, Gibbethon, Baalath,

⁴⁵Jehud, Bene Berak, Gath Rimmon,

⁴⁶Me Jarkon and Rakkon, with the area facing Joppa.

⁴⁷(When the territory of the Danites was lost to them, they went up and attacked Leshem, took it, put it to the sword and occupied it. They settled in Leshem and named it Dan after their ancestor.)

⁴⁸These towns and their villages were the inheritance of the tribe of Dan, according to its clans.

⁴⁹When they had finished dividing the land into its allotted portions, the Israelites gave Joshua son of Nun an inheritance among them,

⁵⁰as the LORD had commanded. They gave him the town he asked for—Timnath Serah in the hill country of Ephraim. And he built up the town and settled there.

⁵¹These are the territories that Eleazar the priest, Joshua son of Nun and the heads of the tribal clans of Israel assigned by lot at Shiloh in the presence of the LORD at the entrance to the tent of meeting. And so they finished dividing the land.

¹A prophecy against Egypt: See, the LORD rides on a swift cloud and is coming to Egypt. The idols of Egypt tremble before him, and the hearts of the Egyptians melt with fear.

²“I will stir up Egyptian against Egyptian— brother will fight against brother, neighbor against neighbor, city against city, kingdom against kingdom.

³The Egyptians will lose heart, and I will bring their plans to nothing; they will consult the idols and the spirits of the dead, the mediums and the spiritists.

⁴I will hand the Egyptians over to the power of a cruel master, and a fierce king will rule over them,” declares the Lord, the LORD Almighty.

⁵The waters of the river will dry up, and the riverbed will be parched and dry.

⁶The canals will stink; the streams of Egypt will dwindle and dry up. The reeds and rushes will wither,

⁷also the plants along the Nile, at the mouth of the river. Every sown field along the Nile will become parched, will blow away and be no more.

⁸The fishermen will groan and lament, all who cast hooks into the Nile; those who throw nets on the water will pine away.

⁹Those who work with combed flax will despair, the weavers of fine linen will lose hope.

¹⁰The workers in cloth will be dejected, and all the wage earners will be sick at heart.

¹¹The officials of Zoan are nothing but fools; the wise counselors of Pharaoh give senseless advice. How can you say to Pharaoh, “I am one of the wise men, a disciple of the ancient kings”?

¹²Where are your wise men now? Let them show you and make known what the LORD Almighty has planned against Egypt.

¹³The officials of Zoan have become fools, the leaders of Memphis are deceived; the cornerstones of her peoples have led Egypt astray.

¹⁴The LORD has poured into them a spirit of dizziness; they make Egypt stagger in all that she does, as a drunkard staggers around in his vomit.

¹⁵There is nothing Egypt can do— head or tail, palm branch or reed.

¹⁶In that day the Egyptians will become weaklings. They will shudder with fear at the uplifted hand that the LORD Almighty raises against them.

¹⁷And the land of Judah will bring terror to the Egyptians; everyone to whom Judah is mentioned will be terrified, because of what the LORD Almighty is planning against them.

¹⁸In that day five cities in Egypt will speak the language of Canaan and swear allegiance to the LORD Almighty. One of them will be called the City of the Sun.

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

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

²¹So the LORD will make himself known to the Egyptians, and in that day they will acknowledge the LORD. They will worship with sacrifices and grain offerings; they will make vows to the LORD and keep them.

²²The LORD will strike Egypt with a plague; he will strike them and heal them. They will turn to the LORD, and he will respond to their pleas and heal them.

²³In that day there will be a highway from Egypt to Assyria. The Assyrians will go to Egypt and the Egyptians to Assyria. The Egyptians and Assyrians will worship together.

²⁴In that day Israel will be the third, along with Egypt and Assyria, a blessing on the earth.

²⁵The LORD Almighty will bless them, saying, “Blessed be Egypt my people, Assyria my handiwork, and Israel my inheritance.”

¹While Apollos was at Corinth, Paul took the road through the interior and arrived at Ephesus. There he found some disciples

²and asked them, “Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?” They answered, “No, we have not even heard that there is a Holy Spirit.”

³So Paul asked, “Then what baptism did you receive?” “John’s baptism,” they replied.

⁴Paul said, “John’s baptism was a baptism of repentance. He told the people to believe in the one coming after him, that is, in Jesus.”

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

⁶When Paul placed his hands on them, the Holy Spirit came on them, and they spoke in tongues and prophesied.

⁷There were about twelve men in all.

⁸Paul entered the synagogue and spoke boldly there for three months, arguing persuasively about the kingdom of God.

⁹But some of them became obstinate; they refused to believe and publicly maligned the Way. So Paul left them. He took the disciples with him and had discussions daily in the lecture hall of Tyrannus.

¹⁰This went on for two years, so that all the Jews and Greeks who lived in the province of Asia heard the word of the Lord.

¹¹God did extraordinary miracles through Paul,

¹²so that even handkerchiefs and aprons that had touched him were taken to the sick, and their illnesses were cured and the evil spirits left them.

¹³Some Jews who went around driving out evil spirits tried to invoke the name of the Lord Jesus over those who were demon-possessed. They would say, “In the name of the Jesus whom Paul preaches, I command you to come out.”

¹⁴Seven sons of Sceva, a Jewish chief priest, were doing this.

¹⁵One day the evil spirit answered them, “Jesus I know, and Paul I know about, but who are you?”

¹⁶Then the man who had the evil spirit jumped on them and overpowered them all. He gave them such a beating that they ran out of the house naked and bleeding.

¹⁷When this became known to the Jews and Greeks living in Ephesus, they were all seized with fear, and the name of the Lord Jesus was held in high honor.

¹⁸Many of those who believed now came and openly confessed what they had done.

¹⁹A number who had practiced sorcery brought their scrolls together and burned them publicly. When they calculated the value of the scrolls, the total came to fifty thousand drachmas.

²⁰In this way the word of the Lord spread widely and grew in power.

²¹After all this had happened, Paul decided to go to Jerusalem, passing through Macedonia and Achaia. “After I have been there,” he said, “I must visit Rome also.”

²²He sent two of his helpers, Timothy and Erastus, to Macedonia, while he stayed in the province of Asia a little longer.

²³About that time there arose a great disturbance about the Way.

²⁴A silversmith named Demetrius, who made silver shrines of Artemis, brought in a lot of business for the craftsmen there.

²⁵He called them together, along with the workers in related trades, and said: “You know, my friends, that we receive a good income from this business.

²⁶And you see and hear how this fellow Paul has convinced and led astray large numbers of people here in Ephesus and in practically the whole province of Asia. He says that gods made by human hands are no gods at all.

²⁷There is danger not only that our trade will lose its good name, but also that the temple of the great goddess Artemis will be discredited; and the goddess herself, who is worshiped throughout the province of Asia and the world, will be robbed of her divine majesty.”

²⁸When they heard this, they were furious and began shouting: “Great is Artemis of the Ephesians!”

²⁹Soon the whole city was in an uproar. The people seized Gaius and Aristarchus, Paul’s traveling companions from Macedonia, and all of them rushed into the theater together.

³⁰Paul wanted to appear before the crowd, but the disciples would not let him.

³¹Even some of the officials of the province, friends of Paul, sent him a message begging him not to venture into the theater.

³²The assembly was in confusion: Some were shouting one thing, some another. Most of the people did not even know why they were there.

³³The Jews in the crowd pushed Alexander to the front, and they shouted instructions to him. He motioned for silence in order to make a defense before the people.

³⁴But when they realized he was a Jew, they all shouted in unison for about two hours: “Great is Artemis of the Ephesians!”

³⁵The city clerk quieted the crowd and said: “Fellow Ephesians, doesn’t all the world know that the city of Ephesus is the guardian of the temple of the great Artemis and of her image, which fell from heaven?

³⁶Therefore, since these facts are undeniable, you ought to calm down and not do anything rash.

³⁷You have brought these men here, though they have neither robbed temples nor blasphemed our goddess.

³⁸If, then, Demetrius and his fellow craftsmen have a grievance against anybody, the courts are open and there are proconsuls. They can press charges.

³⁹If there is anything further you want to bring up, it must be settled in a legal assembly.

⁴⁰As it is, we are in danger of being charged with rioting because of what happened today. In that case we would not be able to account for this commotion, since there is no reason for it.”

⁴¹After he had said this, he dismissed the assembly.