Professor Horner’s Reading Plan

¹Jesus left that part of the country and returned with his disciples to Nazareth, his hometown.

²The next Sabbath he began teaching in the synagogue, and many who heard him were amazed. They asked, “Where did he get all this wisdom and the power to perform such miracles?”

³Then they scoffed, “He’s just a carpenter, the son of Mary and the brother of James, Joseph, Judas, and Simon. And his sisters live right here among us.” They were deeply offended and refused to believe in him.

⁴Then Jesus told them, “A prophet is honored everywhere except in his own hometown and among his relatives and his own family.”

⁵And because of their unbelief, he couldn’t do any miracles among them except to place his hands on a few sick people and heal them.

⁶And he was amazed at their unbelief. Jesus Sends Out the Twelve Disciples Then Jesus went from village to village, teaching the people.

⁷And he called his twelve disciples together and began sending them out two by two, giving them authority to cast out evil spirits.

⁸He told them to take nothing for their journey except a walking stick — no food, no traveler’s bag, no money.

⁹He allowed them to wear sandals but not to take a change of clothes.

¹⁰“Wherever you go,” he said, “stay in the same house until you leave town.

¹¹But if any place refuses to welcome you or listen to you, shake its dust from your feet as you leave to show that you have abandoned those people to their fate.”

¹²So the disciples went out, telling everyone they met to repent of their sins and turn to God.

¹³And they cast out many demons and healed many sick people, anointing them with olive oil.

¹⁴Herod Antipas, the king, soon heard about Jesus, because everyone was talking about him. Some were saying, “This must be John the Baptist raised from the dead. That is why he can do such miracles.”

¹⁵Others said, “He’s the prophet Elijah.” Still others said, “He’s a prophet like the other great prophets of the past.”

¹⁶When Herod heard about Jesus, he said, “John, the man I beheaded, has come back from the dead.”

¹⁷For Herod had sent soldiers to arrest and imprison John as a favor to Herodias. She had been his brother Philip’s wife, but Herod had married her.

¹⁸John had been telling Herod, “It is against God’s law for you to marry your brother’s wife.”

¹⁹So Herodias bore a grudge against John and wanted to kill him. But without Herod’s approval she was powerless,

²⁰for Herod respected John; and knowing that he was a good and holy man, he protected him. Herod was greatly disturbed whenever he talked with John, but even so, he liked to listen to him.

²¹Herodias’s chance finally came on Herod’s birthday. He gave a party for his high government officials, army officers, and the leading citizens of Galilee.

²²Then his daughter, also named Herodias, came in and performed a dance that greatly pleased Herod and his guests. “Ask me for anything you like,” the king said to the girl, “and I will give it to you.”

²³He even vowed, “I will give you whatever you ask, up to half my kingdom!”

²⁴She went out and asked her mother, “What should I ask for?” Her mother told her, “Ask for the head of John the Baptist!”

²⁵So the girl hurried back to the king and told him, “I want the head of John the Baptist, right now, on a tray!”

²⁶Then the king deeply regretted what he had said; but because of the vows he had made in front of his guests, he couldn’t refuse her.

²⁷So he immediately sent an executioner to the prison to cut off John’s head and bring it to him. The soldier beheaded John in the prison,

²⁸brought his head on a tray, and gave it to the girl, who took it to her mother.

²⁹When John’s disciples heard what had happened, they came to get his body and buried it in a tomb.

³⁰The apostles returned to Jesus from their ministry tour and told him all they had done and taught.

³¹Then Jesus said, “Let’s go off by ourselves to a quiet place and rest awhile.” He said this because there were so many people coming and going that Jesus and his apostles didn’t even have time to eat.

³²So they left by boat for a quiet place, where they could be alone.

³³But many people recognized them and saw them leaving, and people from many towns ran ahead along the shore and got there ahead of them.

³⁴Jesus saw the huge crowd as he stepped from the boat, and he had compassion on them because they were like sheep without a shepherd. So he began teaching them many things.

³⁵Late in the afternoon his disciples came to him and said, “This is a remote place, and it’s already getting late.

³⁶Send the crowds away so they can go to the nearby farms and villages and buy something to eat.”

³⁷But Jesus said, “You feed them.” “With what?” they asked. “We’d have to work for months to earn enough money to buy food for all these people!”

³⁸“How much bread do you have?” he asked. “Go and find out.” They came back and reported, “We have five loaves of bread and two fish.”

³⁹Then Jesus told the disciples to have the people sit down in groups on the green grass.

⁴⁰So they sat down in groups of fifty or a hundred.

⁴¹Jesus took the five loaves and two fish, looked up toward heaven, and blessed them. Then, breaking the loaves into pieces, he kept giving the bread to the disciples so they could distribute it to the people. He also divided the fish for everyone to share.

⁴²They all ate as much as they wanted,

⁴³and afterward, the disciples picked up twelve baskets of leftover bread and fish.

⁴⁴A total of 5,000 men and their families were fed.

⁴⁵Immediately after this, Jesus insisted that his disciples get back into the boat and head across the lake to Bethsaida, while he sent the people home.

⁴⁶After telling everyone good-bye, he went up into the hills by himself to pray.

⁴⁷Late that night, the disciples were in their boat in the middle of the lake, and Jesus was alone on land.

⁴⁸He saw that they were in serious trouble, rowing hard and struggling against the wind and waves. About three o’clock in the morning Jesus came toward them, walking on the water. He intended to go past them,

⁴⁹but when they saw him walking on the water, they cried out in terror, thinking he was a ghost.

⁵⁰They were all terrified when they saw him. But Jesus spoke to them at once. “Don’t be afraid,” he said. “Take courage! I am here! ”

⁵¹Then he climbed into the boat, and the wind stopped. They were totally amazed,

⁵²for they still didn’t understand the significance of the miracle of the loaves. Their hearts were too hard to take it in.

⁵³After they had crossed the lake, they landed at Gennesaret. They brought the boat to shore

⁵⁴and climbed out. The people recognized Jesus at once,

⁵⁵and they ran throughout the whole area, carrying sick people on mats to wherever they heard he was.

⁵⁶Wherever he went — in villages, cities, or the countryside — they brought the sick out to the marketplaces. They begged him to let the sick touch at least the fringe of his robe, and all who touched him were healed.

¹Abraham married another wife, whose name was Keturah.

²She gave birth to Zimran, Jokshan, Medan, Midian, Ishbak, and Shuah.

³Jokshan was the father of Sheba and Dedan. Dedan’s descendants were the Asshurites, Letushites, and Leummites.

⁴Midian’s sons were Ephah, Epher, Hanoch, Abida, and Eldaah. These were all descendants of Abraham through Keturah.

⁵Abraham gave everything he owned to his son Isaac.

⁶But before he died, he gave gifts to the sons of his concubines and sent them off to a land in the east, away from Isaac.

⁷Abraham lived for 175 years,

⁸and he died at a ripe old age, having lived a long and satisfying life. He breathed his last and joined his ancestors in death.

⁹His sons Isaac and Ishmael buried him in the cave of Machpelah, near Mamre, in the field of Ephron son of Zohar the Hittite.

¹⁰This was the field Abraham had purchased from the Hittites and where he had buried his wife Sarah.

¹¹After Abraham’s death, God blessed his son Isaac, who settled near Beer-lahai-roi in the Negev.

¹²This is the account of the family of Ishmael, the son of Abraham through Hagar, Sarah’s Egyptian servant.

¹³Here is a list, by their names and clans, of Ishmael’s descendants: The oldest was Nebaioth, followed by Kedar, Adbeel, Mibsam,

¹⁴Mishma, Dumah, Massa,

¹⁵Hadad, Tema, Jetur, Naphish, and Kedemah.

¹⁶These twelve sons of Ishmael became the founders of twelve tribes named after them, listed according to the places they settled and camped.

¹⁷Ishmael lived for 137 years. Then he breathed his last and joined his ancestors in death.

¹⁸Ishmael’s descendants occupied the region from Havilah to Shur, which is east of Egypt in the direction of Asshur. There they lived in open hostility toward all their relatives.

¹⁹This is the account of the family of Isaac, the son of Abraham.

²⁰When Isaac was forty years old, he married Rebekah, the daughter of Bethuel the Aramean from Paddan-aram and the sister of Laban the Aramean.

²¹Isaac pleaded with the LORD on behalf of his wife, because she was unable to have children. The LORD answered Isaac’s prayer, and Rebekah became pregnant with twins.

²²But the two children struggled with each other in her womb. So she went to ask the LORD about it. “Why is this happening to me?” she asked.

²³And the LORD told her, “The sons in your womb will become two nations. From the very beginning, the two nations will be rivals. One nation will be stronger than the other; and your older son will serve your younger son.”

²⁴And when the time came to give birth, Rebekah discovered that she did indeed have twins!

²⁵The first one was very red at birth and covered with thick hair like a fur coat. So they named him Esau.

²⁶Then the other twin was born with his hand grasping Esau’s heel. So they named him Jacob. Isaac was sixty years old when the twins were born.

²⁷As the boys grew up, Esau became a skillful hunter. He was an outdoorsman, but Jacob had a quiet temperament, preferring to stay at home.

²⁸Isaac loved Esau because he enjoyed eating the wild game Esau brought home, but Rebekah loved Jacob.

²⁹One day when Jacob was cooking some stew, Esau arrived home from the wilderness exhausted and hungry.

³⁰Esau said to Jacob, “I’m starved! Give me some of that red stew!” (This is how Esau got his other name, Edom, which means “red.”)

³¹“All right,” Jacob replied, “but trade me your rights as the firstborn son.”

³²“Look, I’m dying of starvation!” said Esau. “What good is my birthright to me now?”

³³But Jacob said, “First you must swear that your birthright is mine.” So Esau swore an oath, thereby selling all his rights as the firstborn to his brother, Jacob.

³⁴Then Jacob gave Esau some bread and lentil stew. Esau ate the meal, then got up and left. He showed contempt for his rights as the firstborn.

¹Imitate God, therefore, in everything you do, because you are his dear children.

²Live a life filled with love, following the example of Christ. He loved us and offered himself as a sacrifice for us, a pleasing aroma to God.

³Let there be no sexual immorality, impurity, or greed among you. Such sins have no place among God’s people.

⁴Obscene stories, foolish talk, and coarse jokes — these are not for you. Instead, let there be thankfulness to God.

⁵You can be sure that no immoral, impure, or greedy person will inherit the Kingdom of Christ and of God. For a greedy person is an idolater, worshiping the things of this world.

⁶Don’t be fooled by those who try to excuse these sins, for the anger of God will fall on all who disobey him.

⁷Don’t participate in the things these people do.

⁸For once you were full of darkness, but now you have light from the Lord. So live as people of light!

⁹For this light within you produces only what is good and right and true.

¹⁰Carefully determine what pleases the Lord.

¹¹Take no part in the worthless deeds of evil and darkness; instead, expose them.

¹²It is shameful even to talk about the things that ungodly people do in secret.

¹³But their evil intentions will be exposed when the light shines on them,

¹⁴for the light makes everything visible. This is why it is said, “Awake, O sleeper, rise up from the dead, and Christ will give you light.”

¹⁵So be careful how you live. Don’t live like fools, but like those who are wise.

¹⁶Make the most of every opportunity in these evil days.

¹⁷Don’t act thoughtlessly, but understand what the Lord wants you to do.

¹⁸Don’t be drunk with wine, because that will ruin your life. Instead, be filled with the Holy Spirit,

¹⁹singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs among yourselves, and making music to the Lord in your hearts.

²⁰And give thanks for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.

²¹And further, submit to one another out of reverence for Christ.

²²For wives, this means submit to your husbands as to the Lord.

²³For a husband is the head of his wife as Christ is the head of the church. He is the Savior of his body, the church.

²⁴As the church submits to Christ, so you wives should submit to your husbands in everything.

²⁵For husbands, this means love your wives, just as Christ loved the church. He gave up his life for her

²⁶to make her holy and clean, washed by the cleansing of God’s word.

²⁷He did this to present her to himself as a glorious church without a spot or wrinkle or any other blemish. Instead, she will be holy and without fault.

²⁸In the same way, husbands ought to love their wives as they love their own bodies. For a man who loves his wife actually shows love for himself.

²⁹No one hates his own body but feeds and cares for it, just as Christ cares for the church.

³⁰And we are members of his body.

³¹As the Scriptures say, “A man leaves his father and mother and is joined to his wife, and the two are united into one.”

³²This is a great mystery, but it is an illustration of the way Christ and the church are one.

³³So again I say, each man must love his wife as he loves himself, and the wife must respect her husband.

¹You should know this, Timothy, that in the last days there will be very difficult times.

²For people will love only themselves and their money. They will be boastful and proud, scoffing at God, disobedient to their parents, and ungrateful. They will consider nothing sacred.

³They will be unloving and unforgiving; they will slander others and have no self-control. They will be cruel and hate what is good.

⁴They will betray their friends, be reckless, be puffed up with pride, and love pleasure rather than God.

⁵They will act religious, but they will reject the power that could make them godly. Stay away from people like that!

⁶They are the kind who work their way into people’s homes and win the confidence of vulnerable women who are burdened with the guilt of sin and controlled by various desires.

⁷(Such women are forever following new teachings, but they are never able to understand the truth.)

⁸These teachers oppose the truth just as Jannes and Jambres opposed Moses. They have depraved minds and a counterfeit faith.

⁹But they won’t get away with this for long. Someday everyone will recognize what fools they are, just as with Jannes and Jambres.

¹⁰But you, Timothy, certainly know what I teach, and how I live, and what my purpose in life is. You know my faith, my patience, my love, and my endurance.

¹¹You know how much persecution and suffering I have endured. You know all about how I was persecuted in Antioch, Iconium, and Lystra — but the Lord rescued me from all of it.

¹²Yes, and everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution.

¹³But evil people and impostors will flourish. They will deceive others and will themselves be deceived.

¹⁴But you must remain faithful to the things you have been taught. You know they are true, for you know you can trust those who taught you.

¹⁵You have been taught the holy Scriptures from childhood, and they have given you the wisdom to receive the salvation that comes by trusting in Christ Jesus.

¹⁶All Scripture is inspired by God and is useful to teach us what is true and to make us realize what is wrong in our lives. It corrects us when we are wrong and teaches us to do what is right.

¹⁷God uses it to prepare and equip his people to do every good work.

¹Then Job spoke again:

²“How you have helped the powerless! How you have saved the weak!

³How you have enlightened my stupidity! What wise advice you have offered!

⁴Where have you gotten all these wise sayings? Whose spirit speaks through you?

⁵“The dead tremble — those who live beneath the waters.

⁶The underworld is naked in God’s presence. The place of destruction is uncovered.

⁷God stretches the northern sky over empty space and hangs the earth on nothing.

⁸He wraps the rain in his thick clouds, and the clouds don’t burst with the weight.

⁹He covers the face of the moon, shrouding it with his clouds.

¹⁰He created the horizon when he separated the waters; he set the boundary between day and night.

¹¹The foundations of heaven tremble; they shudder at his rebuke.

¹²By his power the sea grew calm. By his skill he crushed the great sea monster.

¹³His Spirit made the heavens beautiful, and his power pierced the gliding serpent.

¹⁴These are just the beginning of all that he does, merely a whisper of his power. Who, then, can comprehend the thunder of his power?”

¹I wait quietly before God, for my victory comes from him.

²He alone is my rock and my salvation, my fortress where I will never be shaken.

³So many enemies against one man — all of them trying to kill me. To them I’m just a broken-down wall or a tottering fence.

⁴They plan to topple me from my high position. They delight in telling lies about me. They praise me to my face but curse me in their hearts. Interlude

⁵Let all that I am wait quietly before God, for my hope is in him.

⁶He alone is my rock and my salvation, my fortress where I will not be shaken.

⁷My victory and honor come from God alone. He is my refuge, a rock where no enemy can reach me.

⁸O my people, trust in him at all times. Pour out your heart to him, for God is our refuge. Interlude

⁹Common people are as worthless as a puff of wind, and the powerful are not what they appear to be. If you weigh them on the scales, together they are lighter than a breath of air.

¹⁰Don’t make your living by extortion or put your hope in stealing. And if your wealth increases, don’t make it the center of your life.

¹¹God has spoken plainly, and I have heard it many times: Power, O God, belongs to you;

¹²unfailing love, O Lord, is yours. Surely you repay all people according to what they have done.

¹Honor is no more associated with fools than snow with summer or rain with harvest.

²Like a fluttering sparrow or a darting swallow, an undeserved curse will not land on its intended victim.

³Guide a horse with a whip, a donkey with a bridle, and a fool with a rod to his back!

⁴Don’t answer the foolish arguments of fools, or you will become as foolish as they are.

⁵Be sure to answer the foolish arguments of fools, or they will become wise in their own estimation.

⁶Trusting a fool to convey a message is like cutting off one’s feet or drinking poison!

⁷A proverb in the mouth of a fool is as useless as a paralyzed leg.

⁸Honoring a fool is as foolish as tying a stone to a slingshot.

⁹A proverb in the mouth of a fool is like a thorny branch brandished by a drunk.

¹⁰An employer who hires a fool or a bystander is like an archer who shoots at random.

¹¹As a dog returns to its vomit, so a fool repeats his foolishness.

¹²There is more hope for fools than for people who think they are wise.

¹³The lazy person claims, “There’s a lion on the road! Yes, I’m sure there’s a lion out there!”

¹⁴As a door swings back and forth on its hinges, so the lazy person turns over in bed.

¹⁵Lazy people take food in their hand but don’t even lift it to their mouth.

¹⁶Lazy people consider themselves smarter than seven wise counselors.

¹⁷Interfering in someone else’s argument is as foolish as yanking a dog’s ears.

¹⁸Just as damaging as a madman shooting a deadly weapon

¹⁹is someone who lies to a friend and then says, “I was only joking.”

²⁰Fire goes out without wood, and quarrels disappear when gossip stops.

²¹A quarrelsome person starts fights as easily as hot embers light charcoal or fire lights wood.

²²Rumors are dainty morsels that sink deep into one’s heart.

²³Smooth words may hide a wicked heart, just as a pretty glaze covers a clay pot.

²⁴People may cover their hatred with pleasant words, but they’re deceiving you.

²⁵They pretend to be kind, but don’t believe them. Their hearts are full of many evils.

²⁶While their hatred may be concealed by trickery, their wrongdoing will be exposed in public.

²⁷If you set a trap for others, you will get caught in it yourself. If you roll a boulder down on others, it will crush you instead.

²⁸A lying tongue hates its victims, and flattering words cause ruin.

¹After Hezekiah had faithfully carried out this work, King Sennacherib of Assyria invaded Judah. He laid siege to the fortified towns, giving orders for his army to break through their walls.

²When Hezekiah realized that Sennacherib also intended to attack Jerusalem,

³he consulted with his officials and military advisers, and they decided to stop the flow of the springs outside the city.

⁴They organized a huge work crew to stop the flow of the springs, cutting off the brook that ran through the fields. For they said, “Why should the kings of Assyria come here and find plenty of water?”

⁵Then Hezekiah worked hard at repairing all the broken sections of the wall, erecting towers, and constructing a second wall outside the first. He also reinforced the supporting terraces in the City of David and manufactured large numbers of weapons and shields.

⁶He appointed military officers over the people and assembled them before him in the square at the city gate. Then Hezekiah encouraged them by saying:

⁷“Be strong and courageous! Don’t be afraid or discouraged because of the king of Assyria or his mighty army, for there is a power far greater on our side!

⁸He may have a great army, but they are merely men. We have the LORD our God to help us and to fight our battles for us!” Hezekiah’s words greatly encouraged the people.

⁹While King Sennacherib of Assyria was still besieging the town of Lachish, he sent his officers to Jerusalem with this message for Hezekiah and all the people in the city:

¹⁰“This is what King Sennacherib of Assyria says: What are you trusting in that makes you think you can survive my siege of Jerusalem?

¹¹Hezekiah has said, ‘The LORD our God will rescue us from the king of Assyria.’ Surely Hezekiah is misleading you, sentencing you to death by famine and thirst!

¹²Don’t you realize that Hezekiah is the very person who destroyed all the LORD’s shrines and altars? He commanded Judah and Jerusalem to worship only at the altar at the Temple and to offer sacrifices on it alone.

¹³“Surely you must realize what I and the other kings of Assyria before me have done to all the people of the earth! Were any of the gods of those nations able to rescue their people from my power?

¹⁴Which of their gods was able to rescue its people from the destructive power of my predecessors? What makes you think your God can rescue you from me?

¹⁵Don’t let Hezekiah deceive you! Don’t let him fool you like this! I say it again — no god of any nation or kingdom has ever yet been able to rescue his people from me or my ancestors. How much less will your God rescue you from my power!”

¹⁶And Sennacherib’s officers further mocked the LORD God and his servant Hezekiah, heaping insult upon insult.

¹⁷The king also sent letters scorning the LORD, the God of Israel. He wrote, “Just as the gods of all the other nations failed to rescue their people from my power, so the God of Hezekiah will also fail.”

¹⁸The Assyrian officials who brought the letters shouted this in Hebrew to the people gathered on the walls of the city, trying to terrify them so it would be easier to capture the city.

¹⁹These officers talked about the God of Jerusalem as though he were one of the pagan gods, made by human hands.

²⁰Then King Hezekiah and the prophet Isaiah son of Amoz cried out in prayer to God in heaven.

²¹And the LORD sent an angel who destroyed the Assyrian army with all its commanders and officers. So Sennacherib was forced to return home in disgrace to his own land. And when he entered the temple of his god, some of his own sons killed him there with a sword.

²²That is how the LORD rescued Hezekiah and the people of Jerusalem from King Sennacherib of Assyria and from all the others who threatened them. So there was peace throughout the land.

²³From then on King Hezekiah became highly respected among all the surrounding nations, and many gifts for the LORD arrived at Jerusalem, with valuable presents for King Hezekiah, too.

²⁴About that time Hezekiah became deathly ill. He prayed to the LORD, who healed him and gave him a miraculous sign.

²⁵But Hezekiah did not respond appropriately to the kindness shown him, and he became proud. So the LORD’s anger came against him and against Judah and Jerusalem.

²⁶Then Hezekiah humbled himself and repented of his pride, as did the people of Jerusalem. So the LORD’s anger did not fall on them during Hezekiah’s lifetime.

²⁷Hezekiah was very wealthy and highly honored. He built special treasury buildings for his silver, gold, precious stones, and spices, and for his shields and other valuable items.

²⁸He also constructed many storehouses for his grain, new wine, and olive oil; and he made many stalls for his cattle and pens for his flocks of sheep and goats.

²⁹He built many towns and acquired vast flocks and herds, for God had given him great wealth.

³⁰He blocked up the upper spring of Gihon and brought the water down through a tunnel to the west side of the City of David. And so he succeeded in everything he did.

³¹However, when ambassadors arrived from Babylon to ask about the remarkable events that had taken place in the land, God withdrew from Hezekiah in order to test him and to see what was really in his heart.

³²The rest of the events in Hezekiah’s reign and his acts of devotion are recorded in The Vision of the Prophet Isaiah Son of Amoz, which is included in The Book of the Kings of Judah and Israel.

³³When Hezekiah died, he was buried in the upper area of the royal cemetery, and all Judah and Jerusalem honored him at his death. And his son Manasseh became the next king.

¹Then Jonah prayed to the LORD his God from inside the fish.

²He said, “I cried out to the LORD in my great trouble, and he answered me. I called to you from the land of the dead, and LORD, you heard me!

³You threw me into the ocean depths, and I sank down to the heart of the sea. The mighty waters engulfed me; I was buried beneath your wild and stormy waves.

⁴Then I said, ‘O LORD, you have driven me from your presence. Yet I will look once more toward your holy Temple.’

⁵“I sank beneath the waves, and the waters closed over me. Seaweed wrapped itself around my head.

⁶I sank down to the very roots of the mountains. I was imprisoned in the earth, whose gates lock shut forever. But you, O LORD my God, snatched me from the jaws of death!

⁷As my life was slipping away, I remembered the LORD. And my earnest prayer went out to you in your holy Temple.

⁸Those who worship false gods turn their backs on all God’s mercies.

⁹But I will offer sacrifices to you with songs of praise, and I will fulfill all my vows. For my salvation comes from the LORD alone.”

¹⁰Then the LORD ordered the fish to spit Jonah out onto the beach.

¹Paul went first to Derbe and then to Lystra, where there was a young disciple named Timothy. His mother was a Jewish believer, but his father was a Greek.

²Timothy was well thought of by the believers in Lystra and Iconium,

³so Paul wanted him to join them on their journey. In deference to the Jews of the area, he arranged for Timothy to be circumcised before they left, for everyone knew that his father was a Greek.

⁴Then they went from town to town, instructing the believers to follow the decisions made by the apostles and elders in Jerusalem.

⁵So the churches were strengthened in their faith and grew larger every day.

⁶Next Paul and Silas traveled through the area of Phrygia and Galatia, because the Holy Spirit had prevented them from preaching the word in the province of Asia at that time.

⁷Then coming to the borders of Mysia, they headed north for the province of Bithynia, but again the Spirit of Jesus did not allow them to go there.

⁸So instead, they went on through Mysia to the seaport of Troas.

⁹That night Paul had a vision: A man from Macedonia in northern Greece was standing there, pleading with him, “Come over to Macedonia and help us!”

¹⁰So we decided to leave for Macedonia at once, having concluded that God was calling us to preach the Good News there.

¹¹We boarded a boat at Troas and sailed straight across to the island of Samothrace, and the next day we landed at Neapolis.

¹²From there we reached Philippi, a major city of that district of Macedonia and a Roman colony. And we stayed there several days.

¹³On the Sabbath we went a little way outside the city to a riverbank, where we thought people would be meeting for prayer, and we sat down to speak with some women who had gathered there.

¹⁴One of them was Lydia from Thyatira, a merchant of expensive purple cloth, who worshiped God. As she listened to us, the Lord opened her heart, and she accepted what Paul was saying.

¹⁵She and her household were baptized, and she asked us to be her guests. “If you agree that I am a true believer in the Lord,” she said, “come and stay at my home.” And she urged us until we agreed.

¹⁶One day as we were going down to the place of prayer, we met a slave girl who had a spirit that enabled her to tell the future. She earned a lot of money for her masters by telling fortunes.

¹⁷She followed Paul and the rest of us, shouting, “These men are servants of the Most High God, and they have come to tell you how to be saved.”

¹⁸This went on day after day until Paul got so exasperated that he turned and said to the demon within her, “I command you in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her.” And instantly it left her.

¹⁹Her masters’ hopes of wealth were now shattered, so they grabbed Paul and Silas and dragged them before the authorities at the marketplace.

²⁰“The whole city is in an uproar because of these Jews!” they shouted to the city officials.

²¹“They are teaching customs that are illegal for us Romans to practice.”

²²A mob quickly formed against Paul and Silas, and the city officials ordered them stripped and beaten with wooden rods.

²³They were severely beaten, and then they were thrown into prison. The jailer was ordered to make sure they didn’t escape.

²⁴So the jailer put them into the inner dungeon and clamped their feet in the stocks.

²⁵Around midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the other prisoners were listening.

²⁶Suddenly, there was a massive earthquake, and the prison was shaken to its foundations. All the doors immediately flew open, and the chains of every prisoner fell off!

²⁷The jailer woke up to see the prison doors wide open. He assumed the prisoners had escaped, so he drew his sword to kill himself.

²⁸But Paul shouted to him, “Stop! Don’t kill yourself! We are all here!”

²⁹The jailer called for lights and ran to the dungeon and fell down trembling before Paul and Silas.

³⁰Then he brought them out and asked, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?”

³¹They replied, “Believe in the Lord Jesus and you will be saved, along with everyone in your household.”

³²And they shared the word of the Lord with him and with all who lived in his household.

³³Even at that hour of the night, the jailer cared for them and washed their wounds. Then he and everyone in his household were immediately baptized.

³⁴He brought them into his house and set a meal before them, and he and his entire household rejoiced because they all believed in God.

³⁵The next morning the city officials sent the police to tell the jailer, “Let those men go!”

³⁶So the jailer told Paul, “The city officials have said you and Silas are free to leave. Go in peace.”

³⁷But Paul replied, “They have publicly beaten us without a trial and put us in prison — and we are Roman citizens. So now they want us to leave secretly? Certainly not! Let them come themselves to release us!”

³⁸When the police reported this, the city officials were alarmed to learn that Paul and Silas were Roman citizens.

³⁹So they came to the jail and apologized to them. Then they brought them out and begged them to leave the city.

⁴⁰When Paul and Silas left the prison, they returned to the home of Lydia. There they met with the believers and encouraged them once more. Then they left town.