Professor Horner’s Reading Plan

¹He set out from there and went to the region of Judea and across the Jordan. Then crowds converged on him again, and as was his custom he taught them again.

²Some Pharisees came to test him, asking, “Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife?”

³He replied to them, “What did Moses command you?”

⁴They said, “Moses permitted us to write divorce papers and send her away.”

⁵But Jesus told them, “He wrote this command for you because of the hardness of your hearts.

⁶But from the beginning of creation God made them male and female.

⁷For this reason a man will leave his father and mother

⁸and the two will become one flesh. So they are no longer two, but one flesh.

⁹Therefore what God has joined together, let no one separate.”

¹⁰When they were in the house again, the disciples questioned him about this matter.

¹¹He said to them, “Whoever divorces his wife and marries another commits adultery against her.

¹²Also, if she divorces her husband and marries another, she commits adultery.”

¹³People were bringing little children to him in order that he might touch them, but the disciples rebuked them.

¹⁴When Jesus saw it, he was indignant and said to them, “Let the little children come to me. Don’t stop them, because the kingdom of God belongs to such as these.

¹⁵Truly I tell you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it.”

¹⁶After taking them in his arms, he laid his hands on them and blessed them.

¹⁷As he was setting out on a journey, a man ran up, knelt down before him, and asked him, “Good teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?”

¹⁸“Why do you call me good?” Jesus asked him. “No one is good except God alone.

¹⁹You know the commandments: Do not murder; do not commit adultery; do not steal; do not bear false witness; do not defraud; honor your father and mother.”

²⁰He said to him, “Teacher, I have kept all these from my youth.”

²¹Looking at him, Jesus loved him and said to him, “You lack one thing: Go, sell all you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.”

²²But he was dismayed by this demand, and he went away grieving, because he had many possessions.

²³Jesus looked around and said to his disciples, “How hard it is for those who have wealth to enter the kingdom of God!”

²⁴The disciples were astonished at his words. Again Jesus said to them, “Children, how hard it is to enter the kingdom of God!

²⁵It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God.”

²⁶They were even more astonished, saying to one another, “Then who can be saved?”

²⁷Looking at them, Jesus said, “With man it is impossible, but not with God, because all things are possible with God.”

²⁸Peter began to tell him, “Look, we have left everything and followed you.”

²⁹“Truly I tell you,” Jesus said, “there is no one who has left house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or fields for my sake and for the sake of the gospel,

³⁰who will not receive a hundred times more, now at this time  — houses, brothers and sisters, mothers and children, and fields, with persecutions  — and eternal life in the age to come.

³¹But many who are first will be last, and the last first.”

³²They were on the road, going up to Jerusalem, and Jesus was walking ahead of them. The disciples were astonished, but those who followed him were afraid. Taking the Twelve aside again, he began to tell them the things that would happen to him.

³³“See, we are going up to Jerusalem. The Son of Man will be handed over to the chief priests and the scribes, and they will condemn him to death. Then they will hand him over to the Gentiles,

³⁴and they will mock him, spit on him, flog him, and kill him, and he will rise after three days.”

³⁵James and John, the sons of Zebedee, approached him and said, “Teacher, we want you to do whatever we ask you.”

³⁶“What do you want me to do for you?” he asked them.

³⁷They answered him, “Allow us to sit at your right and at your left in your glory.”

³⁸Jesus said to them, “You don’t know what you’re asking. Are you able to drink the cup I drink or to be baptized with the baptism I am baptized with?”

³⁹“We are able,” they told him. Jesus said to them, “You will drink the cup I drink, and you will be baptized with the baptism I am baptized with.

⁴⁰But to sit at my right or left is not mine to give; instead, it is for those for whom it has been prepared.”

⁴¹When the ten disciples heard this, they began to be indignant with James and John.

⁴²Jesus called them over and said to them, “You know that those who are regarded as rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and those in high positions act as tyrants over them.

⁴³But it is not so among you. On the contrary, whoever wants to become great among you will be your servant,

⁴⁴and whoever wants to be first among you will be a slave to all.

⁴⁵For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”

⁴⁶They came to Jericho. And as he was leaving Jericho with his disciples and a large crowd, Bartimaeus (the son of Timaeus), a blind beggar, was sitting by the road.

⁴⁷When he heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to cry out, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!”

⁴⁸Many warned him to keep quiet, but he was crying out all the more, “Have mercy on me, Son of David!”

⁴⁹Jesus stopped and said, “Call him.” So they called the blind man and said to him, “Have courage! Get up; he’s calling for you.”

⁵⁰He threw off his coat, jumped up, and came to Jesus.

⁵¹Then Jesus answered him, “What do you want me to do for you?” “Rabboni,” the blind man said to him, “I want to see.”

⁵²Jesus said to him, “Go, your faith has saved you.” Immediately he could see and began to follow Jesus on the road.

¹Jacob resumed his journey and went to the eastern country.

²He looked and saw a well in a field. Three flocks of sheep were lying there beside it because the sheep were watered from this well. But a large stone covered the opening of the well.

³The shepherds would roll the stone from the opening of the well and water the sheep when all the flocks were gathered there. Then they would return the stone to its place over the well’s opening.

⁴Jacob asked the men at the well, “My brothers! Where are you from?” “We’re from Haran,” they answered.

⁵“Do you know Laban grandson of Nahor?” Jacob asked them. They answered, “We know him.”

⁶“Is he well?” Jacob asked. “Yes,” they said, “and here is his daughter Rachel, coming with his sheep.”

⁷Then Jacob said, “Look, it is still broad daylight. It’s not time for the animals to be gathered. Water the flock, then go out and let them graze.”

⁸But they replied, “We can’t until all the flocks have been gathered and the stone is rolled from the well’s opening. Then we will water the sheep.”

⁹While he was still speaking with them, Rachel came with her father’s sheep, for she was a shepherdess.

¹⁰As soon as Jacob saw his uncle Laban’s daughter Rachel with his sheep, he went up and rolled the stone from the opening and watered his uncle Laban’s sheep.

¹¹Then Jacob kissed Rachel and wept loudly.

¹²He told Rachel that he was her father’s relative, Rebekah’s son. She ran and told her father.

¹³When Laban heard the news about his sister’s son Jacob, he ran to meet him, hugged him, and kissed him. Then he took him to his house, and Jacob told him all that had happened.

¹⁴Laban said to him, “Yes, you are my own flesh and blood.” After Jacob had stayed with him a month,

¹⁵Laban said to him, “Just because you’re my relative, should you work for me for nothing? Tell me what your wages should be.”

¹⁶Now Laban had two daughters: the older was named Leah, and the younger was named Rachel.

¹⁷Leah had tender eyes, but Rachel was shapely and beautiful.

¹⁸Jacob loved Rachel, so he answered Laban, “I’ll work for you seven years for your younger daughter Rachel.”

¹⁹Laban replied, “Better that I give her to you than to some other man. Stay with me.”

²⁰So Jacob worked seven years for Rachel, and they seemed like only a few days to him because of his love for her.

²¹Then Jacob said to Laban, “Since my time is complete, give me my wife, so I can sleep with her.”

²²So Laban invited all the men of the place and sponsored a feast.

²³That evening, Laban took his daughter Leah and gave her to Jacob, and he slept with her.

²⁴And Laban gave his slave Zilpah to his daughter Leah as her slave.

²⁵When morning came, there was Leah! So he said to Laban, “What is this you have done to me? Wasn’t it for Rachel that I worked for you? Why have you deceived me?”

²⁶Laban answered, “It is not the custom in this place to give the younger daughter in marriage before the firstborn.

²⁷Complete this week of wedding celebration, and we will also give you this younger one in return for working yet another seven years for me.”

²⁸And Jacob did just that. He finished the week of celebration, and Laban gave him his daughter Rachel as his wife.

²⁹And Laban gave his slave Bilhah to his daughter Rachel as her slave.

³⁰Jacob slept with Rachel also, and indeed, he loved Rachel more than Leah. And he worked for Laban another seven years.

³¹When the LORD saw that Leah was unloved, he opened her womb; but Rachel was unable to conceive.

³²Leah conceived, gave birth to a son, and named him Reuben, for she said, “The LORD has seen my affliction; surely my husband will love me now.”

³³She conceived again, gave birth to a son, and said, “The LORD heard that I am unloved and has given me this son also.” So she named him Simeon.

³⁴She conceived again, gave birth to a son, and said, “At last, my husband will become attached to me because I have borne three sons for him.” Therefore he was named Levi.

³⁵And she conceived again, gave birth to a son, and said, “This time I will praise the LORD.” Therefore she named him Judah. Then Leah stopped having children.

¹In addition, my brothers and sisters, rejoice in the Lord. To write to you again about this is no trouble for me and is a safeguard for you.

²Watch out for the dogs, watch out for the evil workers, watch out for those who mutilate the flesh.

³For we are the circumcision, the ones who worship by the Spirit of God, boast in Christ Jesus, and do not put confidence in the flesh —

⁴although I have reasons for confidence in the flesh. If anyone else thinks he has grounds for confidence in the flesh, I have more:

⁵circumcised the eighth day; of the nation of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew born of Hebrews; regarding the law, a Pharisee;

⁶regarding zeal, persecuting the church; regarding the righteousness that is in the law, blameless.

⁷But everything that was a gain to me, I have considered to be a loss because of Christ.

⁸More than that, I also consider everything to be a loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. Because of him I have suffered the loss of all things and consider them as dung, so that I may gain Christ

⁹and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own from the law, but one that is through faith in Christ  — the righteousness from God based on faith.

¹⁰My goal is to know him and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of his sufferings, being conformed to his death,

¹¹assuming that I will somehow reach the resurrection from among the dead.

¹²Not that I have already reached the goal or am already perfect, but I make every effort to take hold of it because I also have been taken hold of by Christ Jesus.

¹³Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and reaching forward to what is ahead,

¹⁴I pursue as my goal the prize promised by God’s heavenly call in Christ Jesus.

¹⁵Therefore, let all of us who are mature think this way. And if you think differently about anything, God will reveal this also to you.

¹⁶In any case, we should live up to whatever truth we have attained.

¹⁷Join in imitating me, brothers and sisters, and pay careful attention to those who live according to the example you have in us.

¹⁸For I have often told you, and now say again with tears, that many live as enemies of the cross of Christ.

¹⁹Their end is destruction; their god is their stomach; their glory is in their shame. They are focused on earthly things,

²⁰but our citizenship is in heaven, and we eagerly wait for a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ.

²¹He will transform the body of our humble condition into the likeness of his glorious body, by the power that enables him to subject everything to himself.

¹Remind them to submit to rulers and authorities, to obey, to be ready for every good work,

²to slander no one, to avoid fighting, and to be kind, always showing gentleness to all people.

³For we too were once foolish, disobedient, deceived, enslaved by various passions and pleasures, living in malice and envy, hateful, detesting one another.

⁴But when the kindness of God our Savior and his love for mankind appeared,

⁵he saved us  —not by works of righteousness that we had done, but according to his mercy  — through the washing of regeneration and renewal by the Holy Spirit.

⁶He poured out his Spirit on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Savior

⁷so that, having been justified by his grace, we may become heirs with the hope of eternal life.

⁸This saying is trustworthy. I want you to insist on these things, so that those who have believed God might be careful to devote themselves to good works. These are good and profitable for everyone.

⁹But avoid foolish debates, genealogies, quarrels, and disputes about the law, because they are unprofitable and worthless.

¹⁰Reject a divisive person after a first and second warning.

¹¹For you know that such a person has gone astray and is sinning; he is self-condemned.

¹²When I send Artemas or Tychicus to you, make every effort to come to me in Nicopolis, because I have decided to spend the winter there.

¹³Diligently help Zenas the lawyer and Apollos on their journey, so that they will lack nothing.

¹⁴Let our people learn to devote themselves to good works for pressing needs, so that they will not be unfruitful.

¹⁵All those who are with me send you greetings. Greet those who love us in the faith. Grace be with all of you.

¹But now they mock me, men younger than I am, whose fathers I would have refused to put with my sheep dogs.

²What use to me was the strength of their hands? Their vigor had left them.

³Emaciated from poverty and hunger, they gnawed the dry land, the desolate wasteland by night.

⁴They plucked mallow among the shrubs, and the roots of the broom tree were their food.

⁵They were banished from human society; people shouted at them as if they were thieves.

⁶They are living on the slopes of the wadis, among the rocks and in holes in the ground.

⁷They bray among the shrubs; they huddle beneath the thistles.

⁸Foolish men, without even a name. They were forced to leave the land.

⁹Now I am mocked by their songs; I have become an object of scorn to them.

¹⁰They despise me and keep their distance from me; they do not hesitate to spit in my face.

¹¹Because God has loosened my bowstring and oppressed me, they have cast off restraint in my presence.

¹²The rabble rise up at my right; they trap my feet and construct their siege ramp against me.

¹³They tear up my path; they contribute to my destruction, without anyone to help them.

¹⁴They advance as through a gaping breach; they keep rolling in through the ruins.

¹⁵Terrors are turned loose against me; they chase my dignity away like the wind, and my prosperity has passed by like a cloud.

¹⁶Now my life is poured out before me, and days of suffering have seized me.

¹⁷Night pierces my bones, but my gnawing pains never rest.

¹⁸My clothing is distorted with great force; he chokes me by the neck of my garment.

¹⁹He throws me into the mud, and I have become like dust and ashes.

²⁰I cry out to you for help, but you do not answer me; when I stand up, you merely look at me.

²¹You have turned against me with cruelty; you harass me with your strong hand.

²²You lift me up on the wind and make me ride it; you scatter me in the storm.

²³Yes, I know that you will lead me to death — the place appointed for all who live.

²⁴Yet no one would stretch out his hand against a ruined person when he cries out to him for help because of his distress.

²⁵Have I not wept for those who have fallen on hard times? Has my soul not grieved for the needy?

²⁶But when I hoped for good, evil came; when I looked for light, darkness came.

²⁷I am churning within and cannot rest; days of suffering confront me.

²⁸I walk about blackened, but not by the sun. I stood in the assembly and cried out for help.

²⁹I have become a brother to jackals and a companion of ostriches.

³⁰My skin blackens and flakes off, and my bones burn with fever.

³¹My lyre is used for mourning and my flute for the sound of weeping.

¹For the choir director. A song. A psalm. [1] Let the whole earth shout joyfully to God!

²Sing about the glory of his name; make his praise glorious.

³Say to God, “How awe-inspiring are your works! Your enemies will cringe before you because of your great strength.

⁴The whole earth will worship you and sing praise to you. They will sing praise to your name.” Selah

⁵Come and see the wonders of God; his acts for humanity are awe-inspiring.

⁶He turned the sea into dry land, and they crossed the river on foot. There we rejoiced in him.

⁷He rules forever by his might; he keeps his eye on the nations. The rebellious should not exalt themselves. Selah

⁸Bless our God, you peoples; let the sound of his praise be heard.

⁹He keeps us alive and does not allow our feet to slip.

¹⁰For you, God, tested us; you refined us as silver is refined.

¹¹You lured us into a trap; you placed burdens on our backs.

¹²You let men ride over our heads; we went through fire and water, but you brought us out to abundance.

¹³I will enter your house with burnt offerings; I will pay you my vows

¹⁴that my lips promised and my mouth spoke during my distress.

¹⁵I will offer you fattened sheep as burnt offerings, with the fragrant smoke of rams; I will sacrifice bulls with goats. Selah

¹⁶Come and listen, all who fear God, and I will tell what he has done for me.

¹⁷I cried out to him with my mouth, and praise was on my tongue.

¹⁸If I had been aware of malice in my heart, the Lord would not have listened.

¹⁹However, God has listened; he has paid attention to the sound of my prayer.

²⁰Blessed be God! He has not turned away my prayer or turned his faithful love from me.

¹The words of Agur son of Jakeh. The pronouncement. The man’s oration to Ithiel, to Ithiel and Ucal:

²I am more stupid than any other person, and I lack a human’s ability to understand.

³I have not gained wisdom, and I have no knowledge of the Holy One.

⁴Who has gone up to heaven and come down? Who has gathered the wind in his hands? Who has bound up the waters in a cloak? Who has established all the ends of the earth? What is his name, and what is the name of his son — if you know?

⁵Every word of God is pure; he is a shield to those who take refuge in him.

⁶Don’t add to his words, or he will rebuke you, and you will be proved a liar.

⁷Two things I ask of you; don’t deny them to me before I die:

⁸Keep falsehood and deceitful words far from me. Give me neither poverty nor wealth; feed me with the food I need.

⁹Otherwise, I might have too much and deny you, saying, “Who is the LORD?” or I might have nothing and steal, profaning the name of my God.

¹⁰Don’t slander a servant to his master or he will curse you, and you will become guilty.

¹¹There is a generation that curses its father and does not bless its mother.

¹²There is a generation that is pure in its own eyes, yet is not washed from its filth.

¹³There is a generation — how haughty its eyes and pretentious its looks.

¹⁴There is a generation whose teeth are swords, whose fangs are knives, devouring the oppressed from the land and the needy from among mankind.

¹⁵The leech has two daughters: “Give, Give!” Three things are never satisfied; four never say, “Enough!”:

¹⁶Sheol; a childless womb; earth, which is never satisfied with water; and fire, which never says, “Enough!”

¹⁷As for the eye that ridicules a father and despises obedience to a mother, may ravens of the valley pluck it out and young vultures eat it.

¹⁸Three things are too wondrous for me; four I can’t understand:

¹⁹the way of an eagle in the sky, the way of a snake on a rock, the way of a ship at sea, and the way of a man with a young woman.

²⁰This is the way of an adulteress: she eats and wipes her mouth and says, “I’ve done nothing wrong.”

²¹The earth trembles under three things; it cannot bear up under four:

²²a servant when he becomes king, a fool when he is stuffed with food,

²³an unloved woman when she marries, and a servant girl when she ousts her queen.

²⁴Four things on earth are small, yet they are extremely wise:

²⁵ants are not a strong people, yet they store up their food in the summer;

²⁶hyraxes are not a mighty people, yet they make their homes in the cliffs;

²⁷locusts have no king, yet all of them march in ranks;

²⁸a lizard can be caught in your hands, yet it lives in kings’ palaces.

²⁹Three things are stately in their stride; four are stately in their walk:

³⁰a lion, which is mightiest among beasts and doesn’t retreat before anything;

³¹a strutting rooster; a goat; and a king at the head of his army.

³²If you have been foolish by exalting yourself or if you’ve been scheming, put your hand over your mouth.

³³For the churning of milk produces butter, and twisting a nose draws blood, and stirring up anger produces strife.

¹Then the common people took Jehoahaz son of Josiah and made him king in Jerusalem in place of his father.

²Jehoahaz was twenty-three years old when he became king, and he reigned three months in Jerusalem.

³The king of Egypt deposed him in Jerusalem and fined the land seventy-five hundred pounds of silver and seventy-five pounds of gold.

⁴Then King Neco of Egypt made Jehoahaz’s brother Eliakim king over Judah and Jerusalem and changed Eliakim’s name to Jehoiakim. But Neco took his brother Jehoahaz and brought him to Egypt.

⁵Jehoiakim was twenty-five years old when he became king, and he reigned eleven years in Jerusalem. He did what was evil in the sight of the LORD his God.

⁶Now King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon attacked him and bound him in bronze shackles to take him to Babylon.

⁷Also Nebuchadnezzar took some of the articles of the LORD’s temple to Babylon and put them in his temple in Babylon.

⁸The rest of the deeds of Jehoiakim, the detestable actions he committed, and what was found against him, are written in the Book of Israel’s Kings. His son Jehoiachin became king in his place.

⁹Jehoiachin was eighteen years old when he became king, and he reigned three months and ten days in Jerusalem. He did what was evil in the LORD’s sight.

¹⁰In the spring Nebuchadnezzar sent for him and brought him to Babylon along with the valuable articles of the LORD’s temple. Then he made Jehoiachin’s brother Zedekiah king over Judah and Jerusalem.

¹¹Zedekiah was twenty-one years old when he became king, and he reigned eleven years in Jerusalem.

¹²He did what was evil in the sight of the LORD his God and did not humble himself before the prophet Jeremiah at the LORD’s command.

¹³He also rebelled against King Nebuchadnezzar who had made him swear allegiance by God. He became obstinate and hardened his heart against returning to the LORD, the God of Israel.

¹⁴All the leaders of the priests and the people multiplied their unfaithful deeds, imitating all the detestable practices of the nations, and they defiled the LORD’s temple that he had consecrated in Jerusalem.

¹⁵But the LORD, the God of their ancestors sent word against them by the hand of his messengers, sending them time and time again, for he had compassion on his people and on his dwelling place.

¹⁶But they kept ridiculing God’s messengers, despising his words, and scoffing at his prophets, until the LORD’s wrath was so stirred up against his people that there was no remedy.

¹⁷So he brought up against them the king of the Chaldeans, who killed their fit young men with the sword in the house of their sanctuary. He had no pity on young men or young women, elderly or aged; he handed them all over to him.

¹⁸He took everything to Babylon — all the articles of God’s temple, large and small, the treasures of the LORD’s temple, and the treasures of the king and his officials.

¹⁹Then the Chaldeans burned God’s temple. They tore down Jerusalem’s wall, burned all its palaces, and destroyed all its valuable articles.

²⁰He deported those who escaped from the sword to Babylon, and they became servants to him and his sons until the rise of the Persian kingdom.

²¹This fulfilled the word of the LORD through Jeremiah, and the land enjoyed its Sabbath rest all the days of the desolation until seventy years were fulfilled.

²²In the first year of King Cyrus of Persia, in order to fulfill the word of the LORD spoken through Jeremiah, the LORD roused the spirit of King Cyrus of Persia to issue a proclamation throughout his entire kingdom and also to put it in writing:

²³This is what King Cyrus of Persia says: The LORD, the God of the heavens, has given me all the kingdoms of the earth and has appointed me to build him a temple at Jerusalem in Judah. Any of his people among you may go up, and may the LORD his God be with him.

¹Woe to those who dream up wickedness and prepare evil plans on their beds! At morning light they accomplish it because the power is in their hands.

²They covet fields and seize them; they also take houses. They deprive a man of his home, a person of his inheritance.

³Therefore, the LORD says: I am now planning a disaster against this nation; you cannot free your necks from it. Then you will not walk so proudly because it will be an evil time.

⁴In that day one will take up a taunt against you and lament mournfully, saying, “We are totally ruined! He measures out the allotted land of my people. How he removes it from me! He allots our fields to traitors.”

⁵Therefore, there will be no one in the assembly of the LORD to divide the land by casting lots.

⁶“Quit your preaching,” they preach. “They should not preach these things; shame will not overtake us.”

⁷House of Jacob, should it be asked, “Is the Spirit of the LORD impatient? Are these the things he does?” Don’t my words bring good to the one who walks uprightly?

⁸But recently my people have risen up like an enemy: You strip off the splendid robe from those who are passing through confidently, like those returning from war.

⁹You force the women of my people out of their comfortable homes, and you take my blessing from their children forever.

¹⁰Get up and leave, for this is not your place of rest because defilement brings destruction — a grievous destruction!

¹¹If a man comes and utters empty lies — “I will preach to you about wine and beer” — he would be just the preacher for this people!

¹²I will indeed gather all of you, Jacob; I will collect the remnant of Israel. I will bring them together like sheep in a pen, like a flock in the middle of its pasture. It will be noisy with people.

¹³One who breaks open the way will advance before them; they will break out, pass through the city gate, and leave by it. Their King will pass through before them, the LORD as their leader.

¹After the uproar was over, Paul sent for the disciples, encouraged them, and after saying farewell, departed to go to Macedonia.

²And when he had passed through those areas and offered them many words of encouragement, he came to Greece

³and stayed three months. The Jews plotted against him when he was about to set sail for Syria, and so he decided to go back through Macedonia.

⁴He was accompanied by Sopater son of Pyrrhus from Berea, Aristarchus and Secundus from Thessalonica, Gaius from Derbe, Timothy, and Tychicus and Trophimus from the province of Asia.

⁵These men went on ahead and waited for us in Troas,

⁶but we sailed away from Philippi after the Festival of Unleavened Bread. In five days we reached them at Troas, where we spent seven days.

⁷On the first day of the week, we assembled to break bread. Paul spoke to them, and since he was about to depart the next day, he kept on talking until midnight.

⁸There were many lamps in the room upstairs where we were assembled,

⁹and a young man named Eutychus was sitting on a window sill and sank into a deep sleep as Paul kept on talking. When he was overcome by sleep, he fell down from the third story and was picked up dead.

¹⁰But Paul went down, bent over him, embraced him, and said, “Don’t be alarmed, because he’s alive.”

¹¹After going upstairs, breaking the bread, and eating, Paul talked a long time until dawn. Then he left.

¹²They brought the boy home alive and were greatly comforted.

¹³We went on ahead to the ship and sailed for Assos, where we were going to take Paul on board, because these were his instructions, since he himself was going by land.

¹⁴When he met us at Assos, we took him on board and went on to Mitylene.

¹⁵Sailing from there, the next day we arrived off Chios. The following day we crossed over to Samos, and the day after, we came to Miletus.

¹⁶For Paul had decided to sail past Ephesus to avoid spending time in the province of Asia, because he was hurrying to be in Jerusalem, if possible, for the day of Pentecost.

¹⁷Now from Miletus, he sent to Ephesus and summoned the elders of the church.

¹⁸When they came to him, he said to them: “You know, from the first day I set foot in Asia, how I was with you the whole time,

¹⁹serving the Lord with all humility, with tears, and during the trials that came to me through the plots of the Jews.

²⁰You know that I did not avoid proclaiming to you anything that was profitable or from teaching you publicly and from house to house.

²¹I testified to both Jews and Greeks about repentance toward God and faith in our Lord Jesus.

²²“And now I am on my way to Jerusalem, compelled by the Spirit, not knowing what I will encounter there,

²³except that in every town the Holy Spirit warns me that chains and afflictions are waiting for me.

²⁴But I consider my life of no value to myself; my purpose is to finish my course and the ministry I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify to the gospel of God’s grace.

²⁵“And now I know that none of you, among whom I went about preaching the kingdom, will ever see me again.

²⁶Therefore I declare to you this day that I am innocent of the blood of all of you,

²⁷because I did not avoid declaring to you the whole plan of God.

²⁸Be on guard for yourselves and for all the flock of which the Holy Spirit has appointed you as overseers, to shepherd the church of God, which he purchased with his own blood.

²⁹I know that after my departure savage wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock.

³⁰Men will rise up even from your own number and distort the truth to lure the disciples into following them.

³¹Therefore be on the alert, remembering that night and day for three years I never stopped warning each one of you with tears.

³²“And now I commit you to God and to the word of his grace, which is able to build you up and to give you an inheritance among all who are sanctified.

³³I have not coveted anyone’s silver or gold or clothing.

³⁴You yourselves know that I worked with my own hands to support myself and those who are with me.

³⁵In every way I’ve shown you that it is necessary to help the weak by laboring like this and to remember the words of the Lord Jesus, because he said, ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’”

³⁶After he said this, he knelt down and prayed with all of them.

³⁷There were many tears shed by everyone. They embraced Paul and kissed him,

³⁸grieving most of all over his statement that they would never see his face again. And they accompanied him to the ship.