Professor Horner’s Reading Plan

¹Now the Pharisees and some of the scribes came from Jerusalem and gathered around Him,

²and they had seen that some of His disciples ate their bread with [ceremonially] impure hands, that is, unwashed [and defiled according to Jewish religious ritual].

³( For the Pharisees and all of the Jews do not eat unless they carefully wash their hands, holding firmly to the traditions of the elders;

⁴and when they come from the market place, they do not eat unless they cleanse themselves [completely according to ritual]; and there are many other things [oral, man-made laws and traditions handed down to them] which they follow diligently, such as the washing of cups and pitchers and copper utensils.)

⁵So the Pharisees and scribes asked Jesus, "Why do Your disciples not live their lives according to the tradition of the elders, but [instead] eat their bread with [ceremonially] unwashed hands?"

⁶He replied, "Rightly did Isaiah prophesy about you hypocrites (play-actors, pretenders), as it is written [in Scripture], 'These people honor Me with their lips, But their heart is far from Me.

⁷'They worship Me in vain [their worship is meaningless and worthless, a pretense], Teaching the precepts of men as doctrines [giving their traditions equal weight with the Scriptures].'

⁸You disregard and neglect the commandment of God, and cling [faithfully] to the tradition of men."

⁹He was also saying to them, "You are experts at setting aside and nullifying the commandment of God in order to keep your [man-made] tradition and regulations.

¹⁰For Moses said, 'Honor your father and your mother [with respect and gratitude]'; and, 'He who speaks evil of his father or mother must be put to death';

¹¹but you [Pharisees and scribes] say, 'If a man tells his father or mother, "Whatever I have that would help you is Corban, (that is to say, already a gift to God),"'

¹²then you no longer let him do anything for his father or mother [since helping them would violate his vow of Corban];

¹³so you nullify the [authority of the] word of God [acting as if it did not apply] because of your tradition which you have handed down [through the elders]. And you do many things such as that."

¹⁴After He called the people to Him again, He began saying to them, "Listen [carefully] to Me, all of you, [hear] and understand [what I am saying]:

¹⁵there is nothing outside a man [such as food] which by going into him can defile him [morally or spiritually]; but the things which come out of [the heart of] a man are what defile and dishonor him.

¹⁶["If anyone has ears to hear, let him hear."]

¹⁷When Jesus had left the crowd and gone into the house, His disciples asked Him about the parable.

¹⁸And He said to them, "Are you, too, so foolish and lacking in understanding? Do you not understand that whatever goes into the man from outside cannot defile and dishonor him,

¹⁹since it does not enter his heart, but [only] his stomach, and [from there it] is eliminated?" (By this, He declared all foods ceremonially clean.)

²⁰And He said, "Whatever comes from [the heart of] a man, that is what defiles and dishonors him.

²¹For from within, [that is] out the heart of men, come base and malevolent thoughts and schemes, acts of sexual immorality, thefts, murders, adulteries,

²²acts of greed and covetousness, wickedness, deceit, unrestrained conduct, envy and jealousy, slander and profanity, arrogance and self-righteousness and foolishness (poor judgment).

²³All these evil things [schemes and desires] come from within and defile and dishonor the man."

²⁴Jesus got up and left there and went to the region of Tyre [and Sidon, the coastal area of Phoenicia]. He entered a house and did not want anyone to know about it; but it was impossible for Him to be hidden [from the public].

²⁵Instead, after hearing about Him, a woman whose little daughter had an unclean spirit immediately came and fell at His feet.

²⁶Now the woman was a Gentile (Greek), a Syrophoenician by nationality. And she kept pleading with Him to drive the demon out of her daughter.

²⁷He was saying to her, "First let the children [of Israel] be fed, for it is not right to take the children's bread and throw it to the pet dogs (non-Jews)."

²⁸But she replied, "Yes, Lord, but even the pet dogs under the table eat the children's crumbs."

²⁹And He said to her, "Because of this answer [reflecting your humility and faith], go [knowing that your request is granted]; the demon has left your daughter [permanently]."

³⁰And returning to her home, she found the child lying on the couch [relaxed and resting], the demon having gone.

³¹Soon after this Jesus left the region of Tyre, and passed through Sidon to the Sea of Galilee, through the region of Decapolis [the ten Hellenistic cities].

³²They brought to Him a man who was deaf and had difficulty speaking, and they begged Jesus to place His hand on him.

³³Jesus, taking him aside by himself, away from the crowd, put His fingers into the man's ears, and after spitting, He touched the man's tongue [with the saliva];

³⁴and looking up to heaven, He sighed deeply and said to the man, "Ephphatha," which [in Aramaic] means, " Be opened and released!"

³⁵And his ears were opened, his tongue was released, and he began speaking plainly.

³⁶Jesus commanded them not to tell anyone; but the more He ordered them, the more widely they continued to proclaim it.

³⁷They were thoroughly astounded and completely overwhelmed, saying, "He has done everything well! He even makes the deaf hear and the mute speak!"

¹Now there was a famine in the land [of Canaan], besides the previous famine that had occurred in the days of Abraham. So Isaac went to Gerar, to Abimelech king of the Philistines.

²The LORD appeared to him and said, "Do not go down to Egypt; stay in the land of which I will tell you.

³Live temporarily [as a resident] in this land and I will be with you and will bless and favor you, for I will give all these lands to you and to your descendants, and I will establish and carry out the oath which I swore to Abraham your father.

⁴I will make your descendants multiply as the stars of the heavens, and will give to your descendants all these lands; and by your descendants shall all the nations of the earth be blessed,

⁵because Abraham listened to and obeyed My voice and [consistently] kept My charge, My commandments, My statutes, and My laws."

⁶So Isaac stayed in Gerar.

⁷The men of the place asked him about his wife, and he said, "She is my sister," for he was afraid to say, "my wife"—thinking, "the men of the place might kill me on account of Rebekah, since she is very beautiful."

⁸It happened when he had been there a long time, that Abimelech king of the Philistines looked out of a window and saw Isaac caressing Rebekah his wife.

⁹Then Abimelech called Isaac and said, "See here, Rebekah is in fact your wife! How did you [dare to] say to me, 'She is my sister'?" And Isaac said to him, "Because I thought I might be killed because of her [desirability]."

¹⁰Abimelech said, "What is this that you have done to us? One of the men [among our people] might easily have been intimate with your wife, and you would have brought guilt on us [before God]."

¹¹Then Abimelech commanded all his people, "Whoever touches this man [Isaac] or his wife [Rebekah] shall without exception be put to death."

¹²Then Isaac planted [seed] in that land [as a farmer] and reaped in the same year a hundred times [as much as he had planted], and the LORD blessed and favored him.

¹³And the man [Isaac] became great and gained more and more until he became very wealthy and extremely distinguished;

¹⁴he owned flocks and herds and a great household [with a number of servants], and the Philistines envied him.

¹⁵Now all the wells which his father's servants had dug in the days of Abraham his father, the Philistines stopped up by filling them with dirt.

¹⁶Then Abimelech said to Isaac, "Go away from here, because you are far too powerful for us."

¹⁷So Isaac left that region and camped in the Valley of Gerar, and settled there.

¹⁸Now Isaac again dug [and reopened] the wells of water which had been dug in the days of Abraham his father, because the Philistines had filled them up [with dirt] after the death of Abraham; and he gave the wells the same names that his father had given them.

¹⁹But when Isaac's servants dug in the valley and found there a well of flowing [spring] water,

²⁰the herdsmen of Gerar quarreled with Isaac's herdsmen, saying, "The water is ours!" So Isaac named the well Esek (quarreling), because they quarreled with him.

²¹Then his servants dug another well, and they quarreled over that also, so Isaac named it Sitnah (enmity).

²²He moved away from there and dug another well, and they did not quarrel over that one; so he named it Rehoboth (broad places), saying, "For now the LORD has made room for us, and we shall be prosperous in the land."

²³Then he went up from there to Beersheba.

²⁴The LORD appeared to him the same night and said, "I am the God of Abraham your father; Do not be afraid, for I am with you. I will bless and favor you, and multiply your descendants, For the sake of My servant Abraham."

²⁵So Isaac built an altar there and called on the name of the LORD [in prayer]. He pitched his tent there; and there Isaac's servants dug a well.

²⁶Then Abimelech came to him from Gerar with Ahuzzath, his [close friend and confidential] adviser, and Phicol, the commander of his army.

²⁷Isaac said to them, "Why have you [people] come to me, since you hate me and have sent me away from you?"

²⁸They said, "We see clearly that the LORD has been with you; so we said, 'There should now be an oath between us [with a curse for the one who breaks it], that is, between you and us, and let us make a covenant (binding agreement, solemn promise) with you,

²⁹that you will not harm us, just as we have not touched you and have done nothing but good to you and have sent you away in peace. You are now the blessed and favored of the LORD!'"

³⁰Then Isaac held a [formal] banquet (covenant feast) for them, and they ate and drank.

³¹They got up early in the morning and swore oaths [pledging to do nothing but good to each other]; and Isaac sent them on their way and they left him in peace.

³²Now on the same day, Isaac's servants came and told him about the well they had dug, saying, "We have found water."

³³So he named the well Shibah; therefore the name of the city is Beersheba to this day.

³⁴When Esau was forty years old he married Judith the daughter of Beeri the Hittite, and Basemath the daughter of Elon the Hittite as his wives;

³⁵and they were a source of grief to [Esau's parents] Isaac and Rebekah.

¹Children, obey your parents in the Lord [that is, accept their guidance and discipline as His representatives], for this is right [for obedience teaches wisdom and self-discipline].

²Honor [esteem, value as precious] your father and your mother [and be respectful to them]—this is the first commandment with a promise—

³so that it may be well with you, and that you may have a long life on the earth.

⁴Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger [do not exasperate them to the point of resentment with demands that are trivial or unreasonable or humiliating or abusive; nor by showing favoritism or indifference to any of them], but bring them up [tenderly, with lovingkindness] in the discipline and instruction of the Lord.

⁵Slaves, be obedient to those who are your earthly masters, with respect for authority, and with a sincere heart [seeking to please them], as [service] to Christ—

⁶not in the way of eye-service [working only when someone is watching you and only] to please men, but as slaves of Christ, doing the will of God from your heart;

⁷rendering service with goodwill, as to the Lord, and not [only] to men,

⁸knowing that whatever good thing each one does, he will receive this back from the Lord, whether [he is] slave or free.

⁹You masters, do the same [showing goodwill] toward them, and give up threatening and abusive words, knowing that [He who is] both their true Master and yours is in heaven, and that there is no partiality with Him [regardless of one's earthly status].

¹⁰In conclusion, be strong in the Lord [draw your strength from Him and be empowered through your union with Him] and in the power of His [boundless] might.

¹¹Put on the full armor of God [for His precepts are like the splendid armor of a heavily-armed soldier], so that you may be able to [successfully] stand up against all the schemes and the strategies and the deceits of the devil.

¹²For our struggle is not against flesh and blood [contending only with physical opponents], but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this [present] darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly (supernatural) places.

¹³Therefore, put on the complete armor of God, so that you will be able to [successfully] resist and stand your ground in the evil day [of danger], and having done everything [that the crisis demands], to stand firm [in your place, fully prepared, immovable, victorious].

¹⁴So stand firm and hold your ground, havingtightened the wide band of truth (personal integrity, moral courage) around your waist and having put on the breastplate of righteousness (an upright heart),

¹⁵and having strapped on your feet the gospel of peace in preparation [to face the enemy with firm-footed stability and the readiness produced by the good news].

¹⁶Above all, lift up the [protective] shield of faith with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one.

¹⁷And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God.

¹⁸With all prayer and petition pray [with specific requests] at all times [on every occasion and in every season] in the Spirit, and with this in view, stay alert with all perseverance and petition [interceding in prayer] for all God's people.

¹⁹And pray for me, that words may be given to me when I open my mouth, to proclaim boldly the mystery of the good news [of salvation],

²⁰for which I am an ambassador in chains. And pray that in proclaiming it I may speak boldly and courageously, as I should.

²¹Now, so that you may know how I am and what I am doing, Tychicus, the beloved brother and faithful minister in the Lord, will tell you everything.

²²I have sent him to you for this very purpose, so that you may know how we are, and that he may comfort and encourage and strengthen your hearts.

²³Peace be to the brothers and sisters, and love joined with faith, from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

²⁴Grace be with all who love our Lord Jesus Christ with undying and incorruptible love.

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

²preach the word [as an official messenger]; be ready when the time is right and even when it is not [keep your sense of urgency, whether the opportunity seems favorable or unfavorable, whether convenient or inconvenient, whether welcome or unwelcome]; correct [those who err in doctrine or behavior], warn [those who sin], exhort and encourage [those who are growing toward spiritual maturity], with inexhaustible patience and [faithful] teaching.

³For the time will come when people will not tolerate sound doctrine and accurate instruction [that challenges them with God's truth]; but wanting to have their ears tickled [with something pleasing], they will accumulate for themselves [many] teachers [one after another, chosen] to satisfy their own desires and to support the errors they hold,

⁴and will turn their ears away from the truth and will wander off into myths and man-made fictions [and will accept the unacceptable].

⁵But as for you, be clear-headed in every situation [stay calm and cool and steady], endure every hardship [without flinching], do the work of an evangelist, fulfill [the duties of] your ministry.

⁶For I am already being poured out as a drink offering, and the time of my departure [from this world] is at hand and I will soon go free.

⁷I have fought the good and worthy and noble fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith [firmly guarding the gospel against error].

⁸In the future there is reserved for me the [victor's] crown of righteousness [for being right with God and doing right], which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that [great] day—and not to me only, but also to all those who have loved and longed for and welcomed His appearing.

⁹Make every effort to come to me soon;

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

¹¹Only Luke is with me. Get Mark and bring him with you, for he is very helpful to me for the ministry.

¹²But Tychicus I have sent to Ephesus.

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

¹⁴Alexander the coppersmith did me great harm; [but that is no concern of mine, for] the Lord will repay him according to his actions.

¹⁵Be on guard against him yourself, because he vigorously opposed our message.

¹⁶At my first trial no one supported me [as an advocate] or stood with me, but they all deserted me. May it not be counted against them [by God].

¹⁷But the Lord stood by me and strengthened and empowered me, so that through me the [gospel] message might be fully proclaimed, and that all the Gentiles might hear it; and I was rescued from the mouth of the lion.

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

¹⁹Give my greetings to Prisca and Aquila, and to the household of Onesiphorus.

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

²¹Try your best to come [to me] before winter. Eubulus wishes to be remembered to you, as do Pudens and Linus and Claudia and all the brothers and sisters.

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

¹Job continued his discourse and said,

²"As God lives, who has taken away my right and denied me justice, And the Almighty, who has caused bitterness and grief for my soul,

³As long as my life is within me, And the breath of God is [still] in my nostrils,

⁴My lips will not speak unjustly, Nor will my tongue utter deceit.

⁵"Far be it from me that I should admit you are right [in your accusations against me]; Until I die, I will not remove my integrity from me.

⁶"I hold fast my uprightness and my right standing with God and I will not let them go; My heart does not reproach me for any of my days.

⁷"May my enemy be as the wicked, And he who rises up against me be as the unrighteous (unjust).

⁸"For what is the hope of the godless, even though he has gained [in this world], When God takes his life?

⁹"Will God hear his cry When trouble and distress come upon him?

¹⁰"Will he take delight in the Almighty? Will he call on God at all times?

¹¹"I will teach you regarding the hand (power) of God; I will not conceal what is with the Almighty [God's actual treatment of the wicked].

¹²"Behold, all of you have seen it; Why then do you act vainly and foolishly [cherishing worthless concepts]?

¹³"This [which I am about to explain] is the portion of a wicked man from God, And the inheritance which tyrants and oppressors receive from the Almighty:

¹⁴"Though his children are many, they are destined for the sword; And his descendants will not have sufficient bread.

¹⁵"Those who survive him will be buried because of the plague, And [their] widows will not be able to weep.

¹⁶"Though he heaps up silver like dust And piles up clothing like clay,

¹⁷He may prepare it, but the just will wear it And the innocent will divide the silver.

¹⁸"He builds his house like a spider's web, Like a (temporary) hut which a watchman makes.

¹⁹"He lies down rich, but never will again; He opens his eyes, and it is gone.

²⁰"Terrors overtake him like a [suddenly rising] flood; A windstorm steals him away in the night.

²¹"The east wind lifts him up, and he is gone; It sweeps him out of his place.

²²"For it will hurl [thunderbolts of God's wrath] at him unsparingly and without compassion; He flees in haste from its power.

²³"People will clap their hands at him [to mock and ridicule him] And hiss him out of his place.

¹A Psalm of David; when he was in the wilderness of Judah. O God, You are my God; with deepest longing I will seek You; My soul [my life, my very self] thirsts for You, my flesh longs and sighs for You, In a dry and weary land where there is no water.

²So I have gazed upon You in the sanctuary, To see Your power and Your glory.

³Because Your lovingkindness is better than life, My lips shall praise You.

⁴So will I bless You as long as I live; I will lift up my hands in Your name.

⁵My soul [my life, my very self] is satisfied as with marrow and fatness, And my mouth offers praises [to You] with joyful lips.

⁶When I remember You on my bed, I meditate and thoughtfully focus on You in the night watches,

⁷For You have been my help, And in the shadow of Your wings [where I am always protected] I sing for joy.

⁸My soul [my life, my very self] clings to You; Your right hand upholds me.

⁹But those who seek my life to destroy it Will [be destroyed and] go into the depths of the earth [into the underworld].

¹⁰They will be given over to the power of the sword; They will be a prey for foxes.

¹¹But the king will rejoice in God; Everyone who swears by Him [honoring the true God, acknowledging His authority and majesty] will glory, For the mouths of those who speak lies will be stopped.

¹Do not boast about tomorrow, For you do not know what a day may bring.

²Let another praise you, and not your own mouth; A stranger, and not your own lips.

³Stone is heavy and the sand weighty, But a fool's [unreasonable] wrath is heavier and more burdensome than both of them.

⁴Wrath is cruel and anger is an overwhelming flood, But who is able to endure and stand before [the sin of] jealousy?

⁵Better is an open reprimand [of loving correction] Than love that is hidden.

⁶Faithful are the wounds of a friend [who corrects out of love and concern], But the kisses of an enemy are deceitful [because they serve his hidden agenda].

⁷He who is satisfied loathes honey, But to the hungry soul any bitter thing is sweet.

⁸Like a bird that wanders from her nest [with its comfort and safety], So is a man who wanders from his home.

⁹Oil and perfume make the heart glad; So does the sweetness of a friend's counsel that comes from the heart.

¹⁰Do not abandon your own friend and your father's friend, And do not go to your brother's house in the day of your disaster. Better is a neighbor who is near than a brother who is far away.

¹¹My son, be wise, and make my heart glad, That I may reply to him who reproaches (reprimands, criticizes) me.

¹²A prudent man sees evil and hides himself and avoids it, But the naive [who are easily misled] continue on and are punished [by suffering the consequences of sin].

¹³[The judge tells the creditor,] "Take the garment of one who is surety (guarantees a loan) for a stranger; And hold him in pledge when he is surety for an immoral woman [for it is unlikely the debt will be repaid]."

¹⁴He who blesses his neighbor with a loud voice early in the morning, It will be counted as a curse to him [for it will either be annoying or his purpose will be suspect].

¹⁵A constant dripping on a day of steady rain And a contentious (quarrelsome) woman are alike;

¹⁶Whoever attempts to restrain her [criticism] might as well try to stop the wind, And grasps oil with his right hand.

¹⁷As iron sharpens iron, So one man sharpens [and influences] another [through discussion].

¹⁸He who tends the fig tree will eat its fruit, And he who faithfully protects and cares for his master will be honored.

¹⁹As in water face reflects face, So the heart of man reflects man.

²⁰Sheol (the place of the dead) and Abaddon (the underworld) are never satisfied; Nor are the eyes of man ever satisfied.

²¹The refining pot is for silver and the furnace for gold [to separate the impurities of the metal], And each is tested by the praise given to him [and his response to it, whether humble or proud].

²²Even though you pound a [hardened, arrogant] fool [who rejects wisdom] in a mortar with a pestle like grain, Yet his foolishness will not leave him.

²³Be diligent to know the condition of your flocks, And pay attention to your herds;

²⁴For riches are not forever, Nor does a crown endure to all generations.

²⁵When the grass is gone, the new growth is seen, And herbs of the mountain are gathered in,

²⁶The lambs will supply wool for your clothing, And the goats will bring the price of a field.

²⁷And there will be enough goats' milk for your food, For the food of your household, And for the maintenance of your maids.

¹Manasseh was twelve years old when he became king, and he reigned for fifty-five years in Jerusalem.

²But he did evil in the sight of the LORD, like the repulsive acts of the [pagan] nations whom the LORD dispossessed before the sons (descendants) of Israel.

³For he rebuilt the [idolatrous] high places which his father Hezekiah had torn down; and he set up altars for the Baals and made the Asherim, and worshiped all the host of heaven [the sun, the moon, stars and planets] and served them.

⁴He built [pagan] altars in the house of the LORD, of which the LORD had said, "My Name shall be in Jerusalem forever."

⁵He built altars for all the host of heaven in the two courts of the house of the LORD.

⁶He made his sons pass through the fire [as an offering to his gods] in the Valley of Ben-hinnom; and he practiced witchcraft, used divination, and practiced sorcery, and dealt with mediums and spiritists. He did much evil in the sight of the LORD, provoking Him to anger.

⁷Then he set the carved image of the idol which he had made in the house of God, of which God had said to David and to Solomon his son, "In this house and in Jerusalem, which I have chosen from all the tribes of Israel, I will put My Name [and the symbol of my Presence] forever;

⁸and I will not again remove Israel from the land which I appointed for your fathers, if they will only be careful to do everything that I have commanded them in regard to all the law, the statutes, and the ordinances given through Moses."

⁹So Manasseh caused Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem to sin, by doing more evil than the [pagan] nations whom the LORD had destroyed before the sons of Israel.

¹⁰Now the LORD spoke to Manasseh and to his people, but they paid no attention.

¹¹So the LORD brought the commanders of the army of the king of Assyria against them, and they captured Manasseh with hooks [through his nose or cheeks] and bound him with bronze [chains] and took him to Babylon.

¹²But when he was in distress, he sought the LORD his God and humbled himself greatly before the God of his fathers.

¹³When he prayed to Him, He was moved by his entreaty and heard his pleading, and brought him back to Jerusalem to his kingdom. Then Manasseh knew that the LORD is God.

¹⁴After this he built an outer wall for the City of David on the west side of Gihon, in the river valley, to the entrance of the Fish Gate; and he encircled the Ophel with it and made it very high. Then he put military commanders in all the fortified cities of Judah.

¹⁵He also removed the foreign gods and the idol from the house of the LORD, as well as all the altars which he had built on the mountain of the house of the LORD and in Jerusalem; and he threw them outside the city.

¹⁶Then he set up the altar of the LORD and sacrificed peace offerings and thank offerings on it; and he ordered Judah to serve the LORD God of Israel.

¹⁷Yet the people still sacrificed on the high places, but only to the LORD their God.

¹⁸Now the rest of the acts of Manasseh, and his prayer to his God, and the words of the seers who spoke to him in the name of the LORD God of Israel, behold, they are among the records of the kings of Israel.

¹⁹His prayer also and how God heard him, and all his sin, his unfaithfulness, and the sites on which he built high places and set up the Asherim and the carved images, before he humbled himself, behold, they are written in the records of the Hozai.

²⁰So Manasseh slept with his fathers [in death], and they buried him in [the garden of] his own house. And his son Amon became king in his place.

²¹Amon was twenty-two years old when he became king, and he reigned for two years in Jerusalem.

²²But he did evil in the sight of the LORD, just as his father Manasseh had done. Amon sacrificed to all the carved images which his father Manasseh had made, and he served them.

²³Further, he did not humble himself before the LORD as his father Manasseh [finally] had done, but Amon multiplied his guilt and his sin.

²⁴And his servants conspired against him and killed him in his own house (palace).

²⁵But the people of the land struck down all those who had conspired against King Amon, and they made his son Josiah king in his place.

¹Now the word of the LORD came to Jonah the second time, saying,

²"Go to Nineveh the great city and declare to it the message which I am going to tell you."

³So Jonah went to Nineveh in accordance with the word of the LORD. Now Nineveh was an exceedingly great city, a three days' walk [about sixty miles in circumference].

⁴Then on the first day's walk, Jonah began to go through the city, and he called out and said, "Forty days more [remain] and [then] Nineveh will be overthrown!"

⁵The people of Nineveh believed and trusted in God; and they proclaimed a fast and put on sackcloth [in penitent mourning], from the greatest even to the least of them.

⁶When word reached the king of Nineveh [of Jonah's message from God], he rose from his throne, took off his robe, covered himself with sackcloth and sat in the dust [in repentance].

⁷He issued a proclamation and it said, "In Nineveh, by the decree of the king and his nobles: No man, animal, herd, or flock is to taste anything. They are not to eat or drink water.

⁸But both man and animal must be covered with sackcloth; and every one is to call on God earnestly and forcefully that each may turn from his wicked way and from the violence that is in his hands.

⁹Who knows, God may turn [in compassion] and relent and withdraw His burning anger (judgment) so that we will not perish."

¹⁰When God saw their deeds, that they turned from their wicked way, then God [had compassion and] relented concerning the disaster which He had declared that He would bring upon them. And He did not do it.

¹Now after Paul and Silas had traveled through Amphipolis and Apollonia, they came to Thessalonica, where there was a synagogue of the Jews.

²And Paul entered the synagogue, as was his custom, and for three Sabbaths he engaged in discussion and friendly debate with them from the Scriptures,

³explaining and pointing out [scriptural evidence] that it was necessary for the Christ to suffer and rise from the dead, and saying, "This Jesus, whom I am proclaiming to you, is the Christ (the Messiah, the Anointed)."

⁴And some of them were persuaded to believe and joined Paul and Silas, along with a large number of the God-fearing Greeks and many of the leading women.

⁵But the [unbelieving] Jews became jealous, and taking along some thugs from [the lowlifes in] the market place, they formed a mob and set the city in an uproar; and then attacking Jason's house tried to bring Paul and Silas out to the people.

⁶But when they failed to find them, they dragged Jason and some brothers before the city authorities, shouting, "These men who have turned the world upside down have come here too;

⁷and Jason has welcomed them [into his house and protected them]! And they all are saying things contrary to the decrees of Caesar, [actually] claiming that there is another king, Jesus."

⁸They stirred up the crowd and the city authorities who heard these things.

⁹And when they had taken security (bail) from Jason and the others, they let them go.

¹⁰The brothers immediately sent Paul and Silas away by night to Berea; and when they arrived, they entered the Jewish synagogue.

¹¹Now these people were more noble and open-minded than those in Thessalonica, so they received the message [of salvation through faith in the Christ] with great eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily to see if these things were so.

¹²As a result many of them became believers, together with a number of prominent Greek women and men.

¹³But when the Jews of Thessalonica learned that the word of God [concerning eternal salvation through faith in Christ] had also been preached by Paul at Berea, they came there too, agitating and disturbing the crowds.

¹⁴So at that time the brothers immediately sent Paul away to go as far as the sea; but Silas and Timothy remained there [at Berea].

¹⁵Those who escorted Paul brought him to Athens; and [after] receiving instructions [from Paul] for Silas and Timothy to join him as soon as possible, they left.

¹⁶Now while Paul was waiting for them at Athens, his spirit was greatly angered when he saw that the city was full of idols.

¹⁷So he had discussions in the synagogue with the Jews and the God-fearing Gentiles, and in the market place day after day with any who happened to be there.

¹⁸And some of the Epicurean and Stoic philosophers began to engage in conversation with him. And some said, "What could this idle babbler [with his eclectic, scrap-heap learning] have in mind to say?" Others said, "He seems to be a proclaimer of strange deities"—because he was preaching the good news about Jesus and the resurrection.

¹⁹They took him and brought him to the Areopagus (Hill of Ares, the Greek god of war), saying, "May we know what this [strange] new teaching is which you are proclaiming?

²⁰For you are bringing some startling and strange things to our ears; so we want to know what they mean."

²¹(Now all the Athenians and the foreigners visiting there used to spend their [leisure] time in nothing other than telling or hearing something new.)

²²So Paul, standing in the center of the Areopagus, said: "Men of Athens, I observe [with every turn I make throughout the city] that you are very religious and devout in all respects.

²³Now as I was going along and carefully looking at your objects of worship, I came to an altar with this inscription: 'TO AN UNKNOWN GOD.' Therefore what you already worship as unknown, this I proclaim to you.

²⁴The God who created the world and everything in it, since He is Lord of heaven and earth, does not dwell in temples made with hands;

²⁵nor is He served by human hands, as though He needed anything, because it is He who gives to all [people] life and breath and all things.

²⁶And He made from one man every nation of mankind to live on the face of the earth, having determined their appointed times and the boundaries of their lands and territories.

²⁷This was so that they would seek God, if perhaps they might grasp for Him and find Him, though He is not far from each one of us.

²⁸For in Him we live and move and exist [that is, in Him we actually have our being], as even some of your own poets have said, 'For we also are His children.'

²⁹So then, being God's children, we should not think that the Divine Nature (deity) is like gold or silver or stone, an image formed by the art and imagination or skill of man.

³⁰Therefore God overlooked and disregarded the former ages of ignorance; but now He commands all people everywhere to repent [that is, to change their old way of thinking, to regret their past sins, and to seek God's purpose for their lives],

³¹because He has set a day when He will judge the inhabited world in righteousness by a Man whom He has appointed and destined for that task, and He has provided credible proof to everyone by raising Him from the dead."

³²Now when they heard [the term] resurrection from the dead, some mocked and sneered; but others said, "We will hear from you again about this matter."

³³So Paul left them.

³⁴But some men joined him and believed; among them were Dionysius, [a judge] of the Council of Areopagus, and a woman named Damaris, and others with them.