Professor Horner’s Reading Plan

¹As Jesus and his disciples approached Jerusalem, they came to the towns of Bethphage and Bethany on the Mount of Olives. Jesus sent two of them on ahead.

²“Go into that village over there,” he told them. “As soon as you enter it, you will see a young donkey tied there that no one has ever ridden. Untie it and bring it here.

³If anyone asks, ‘What are you doing?’ just say, ‘The Lord needs it and will return it soon.’”

⁴The two disciples left and found the colt standing in the street, tied outside the front door.

⁵As they were untying it, some bystanders demanded, “What are you doing, untying that colt?”

⁶They said what Jesus had told them to say, and they were permitted to take it.

⁷Then they brought the colt to Jesus and threw their garments over it, and he sat on it.

⁸Many in the crowd spread their garments on the road ahead of him, and others spread leafy branches they had cut in the fields.

⁹Jesus was in the center of the procession, and the people all around him were shouting, “Praise God! Blessings on the one who comes in the name of the LORD!

¹⁰Blessings on the coming Kingdom of our ancestor David! Praise God in highest heaven!”

¹¹So Jesus came to Jerusalem and went into the Temple. After looking around carefully at everything, he left because it was late in the afternoon. Then he returned to Bethany with the twelve disciples.

¹²The next morning as they were leaving Bethany, Jesus was hungry.

¹³He noticed a fig tree in full leaf a little way off, so he went over to see if he could find any figs. But there were only leaves because it was too early in the season for fruit.

¹⁴Then Jesus said to the tree, “May no one ever eat your fruit again!” And the disciples heard him say it.

¹⁵When they arrived back in Jerusalem, Jesus entered the Temple and began to drive out the people buying and selling animals for sacrifices. He knocked over the tables of the money changers and the chairs of those selling doves,

¹⁶and he stopped everyone from using the Temple as a marketplace.

¹⁷He said to them, “The Scriptures declare, ‘My Temple will be called a house of prayer for all nations,’ but you have turned it into a den of thieves.”

¹⁸When the leading priests and teachers of religious law heard what Jesus had done, they began planning how to kill him. But they were afraid of him because the people were so amazed at his teaching.

¹⁹That evening Jesus and the disciples left the city.

²⁰The next morning as they passed by the fig tree he had cursed, the disciples noticed it had withered from the roots up.

²¹Peter remembered what Jesus had said to the tree on the previous day and exclaimed, “Look, Rabbi! The fig tree you cursed has withered and died!”

²²Then Jesus said to the disciples, “Have faith in God.

²³I tell you the truth, you can say to this mountain, ‘May you be lifted up and thrown into the sea,’ and it will happen. But you must really believe it will happen and have no doubt in your heart.

²⁴I tell you, you can pray for anything, and if you believe that you’ve received it, it will be yours.

²⁵But when you are praying, first forgive anyone you are holding a grudge against, so that your Father in heaven will forgive your sins, too. ”

²⁶

²⁷Again they entered Jerusalem. As Jesus was walking through the Temple area, the leading priests, the teachers of religious law, and the elders came up to him.

²⁸They demanded, “By what authority are you doing all these things? Who gave you the right to do them?”

²⁹“I’ll tell you by what authority I do these things if you answer one question,” Jesus replied.

³⁰“Did John’s authority to baptize come from heaven, or was it merely human? Answer me!”

³¹They talked it over among themselves. “If we say it was from heaven, he will ask why we didn’t believe John.

³²But do we dare say it was merely human?” For they were afraid of what the people would do, because everyone believed that John was a prophet.

³³So they finally replied, “We don’t know.” And Jesus responded, “Then I won’t tell you by what authority I do these things.”

¹When Rachel saw that she wasn’t having any children for Jacob, she became jealous of her sister. She pleaded with Jacob, “Give me children, or I’ll die!”

²Then Jacob became furious with Rachel. “Am I God?” he asked. “He’s the one who has kept you from having children!”

³Then Rachel told him, “Take my maid, Bilhah, and sleep with her. She will bear children for me, and through her I can have a family, too.”

⁴So Rachel gave her servant, Bilhah, to Jacob as a wife, and he slept with her.

⁵Bilhah became pregnant and presented him with a son.

⁶Rachel named him Dan, for she said, “God has vindicated me! He has heard my request and given me a son.”

⁷Then Bilhah became pregnant again and gave Jacob a second son.

⁸Rachel named him Naphtali, for she said, “I have struggled hard with my sister, and I’m winning!”

⁹Meanwhile, Leah realized that she wasn’t getting pregnant anymore, so she took her servant, Zilpah, and gave her to Jacob as a wife.

¹⁰Soon Zilpah presented him with a son.

¹¹Leah named him Gad, for she said, “How fortunate I am!”

¹²Then Zilpah gave Jacob a second son.

¹³And Leah named him Asher, for she said, “What joy is mine! Now the other women will celebrate with me.”

¹⁴One day during the wheat harvest, Reuben found some mandrakes growing in a field and brought them to his mother, Leah. Rachel begged Leah, “Please give me some of your son’s mandrakes.”

¹⁵But Leah angrily replied, “Wasn’t it enough that you stole my husband? Now will you steal my son’s mandrakes, too?” Rachel answered, “I will let Jacob sleep with you tonight if you give me some of the mandrakes.”

¹⁶So that evening, as Jacob was coming home from the fields, Leah went out to meet him. “You must come and sleep with me tonight!” she said. “I have paid for you with some mandrakes that my son found.” So that night he slept with Leah.

¹⁷And God answered Leah’s prayers. She became pregnant again and gave birth to a fifth son for Jacob.

¹⁸She named him Issachar, for she said, “God has rewarded me for giving my servant to my husband as a wife.”

¹⁹Then Leah became pregnant again and gave birth to a sixth son for Jacob.

²⁰She named him Zebulun, for she said, “God has given me a good reward. Now my husband will treat me with respect, for I have given him six sons.”

²¹Later she gave birth to a daughter and named her Dinah.

²²Then God remembered Rachel’s plight and answered her prayers by enabling her to have children.

²³She became pregnant and gave birth to a son. “God has removed my disgrace,” she said.

²⁴And she named him Joseph, for she said, “May the LORD add yet another son to my family.”

²⁵Soon after Rachel had given birth to Joseph, Jacob said to Laban, “Please release me so I can go home to my own country.

²⁶Let me take my wives and children, for I have earned them by serving you, and let me be on my way. You certainly know how hard I have worked for you.”

²⁷“Please listen to me,” Laban replied. “I have become wealthy, for the LORD has blessed me because of you.

²⁸Tell me how much I owe you. Whatever it is, I’ll pay it.”

²⁹Jacob replied, “You know how hard I’ve worked for you, and how your flocks and herds have grown under my care.

³⁰You had little indeed before I came, but your wealth has increased enormously. The LORD has blessed you through everything I’ve done. But now, what about me? When can I start providing for my own family?”

³¹“What wages do you want?” Laban asked again. Jacob replied, “Don’t give me anything. Just do this one thing, and I’ll continue to tend and watch over your flocks.

³²Let me inspect your flocks today and remove all the sheep and goats that are speckled or spotted, along with all the black sheep. Give these to me as my wages.

³³In the future, when you check on the animals you have given me as my wages, you’ll see that I have been honest. If you find in my flock any goats without speckles or spots, or any sheep that are not black, you will know that I have stolen them from you.”

³⁴“All right,” Laban replied. “It will be as you say.”

³⁵But that very day Laban went out and removed the male goats that were streaked and spotted, all the female goats that were speckled and spotted or had white patches, and all the black sheep. He placed them in the care of his own sons,

³⁶who took them a three-days’ journey from where Jacob was. Meanwhile, Jacob stayed and cared for the rest of Laban’s flock.

³⁷Then Jacob took some fresh branches from poplar, almond, and plane trees and peeled off strips of bark, making white streaks on them.

³⁸Then he placed these peeled branches in the watering troughs where the flocks came to drink, for that was where they mated.

³⁹And when they mated in front of the white-streaked branches, they gave birth to young that were streaked, speckled, and spotted.

⁴⁰Jacob separated those lambs from Laban’s flock. And at mating time he turned the flock to face Laban’s animals that were streaked or black. This is how he built his own flock instead of increasing Laban’s.

⁴¹Whenever the stronger females were ready to mate, Jacob would place the peeled branches in the watering troughs in front of them. Then they would mate in front of the branches.

⁴²But he didn’t do this with the weaker ones, so the weaker lambs belonged to Laban, and the stronger ones were Jacob’s.

⁴³As a result, Jacob became very wealthy, with large flocks of sheep and goats, female and male servants, and many camels and donkeys.

¹Therefore, my dear brothers and sisters, stay true to the Lord. I love you and long to see you, dear friends, for you are my joy and the crown I receive for my work.

²Now I appeal to Euodia and Syntyche. Please, because you belong to the Lord, settle your disagreement.

³And I ask you, my true partner, to help these two women, for they worked hard with me in telling others the Good News. They worked along with Clement and the rest of my co-workers, whose names are written in the Book of Life.

⁴Always be full of joy in the Lord. I say it again — rejoice!

⁵Let everyone see that you are considerate in all you do. Remember, the Lord is coming soon.

⁶Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done.

⁷Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus.

⁸And now, dear brothers and sisters, one final thing. Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise.

⁹Keep putting into practice all you learned and received from me — everything you heard from me and saw me doing. Then the God of peace will be with you.

¹⁰How I praise the Lord that you are concerned about me again. I know you have always been concerned for me, but you didn’t have the chance to help me.

¹¹Not that I was ever in need, for I have learned how to be content with whatever I have.

¹²I know how to live on almost nothing or with everything. I have learned the secret of living in every situation, whether it is with a full stomach or empty, with plenty or little.

¹³For I can do everything through Christ, who gives me strength.

¹⁴Even so, you have done well to share with me in my present difficulty.

¹⁵As you know, you Philippians were the only ones who gave me financial help when I first brought you the Good News and then traveled on from Macedonia. No other church did this.

¹⁶Even when I was in Thessalonica you sent help more than once.

¹⁷I don’t say this because I want a gift from you. Rather, I want you to receive a reward for your kindness.

¹⁸At the moment I have all I need — and more! I am generously supplied with the gifts you sent me with Epaphroditus. They are a sweet-smelling sacrifice that is acceptable and pleasing to God.

¹⁹And this same God who takes care of me will supply all your needs from his glorious riches, which have been given to us in Christ Jesus.

²⁰Now all glory to God our Father forever and ever! Amen.

²¹Give my greetings to each of God’s holy people — all who belong to Christ Jesus. The brothers who are with me send you their greetings.

²²And all the rest of God’s people send you greetings, too, especially those in Caesar’s household.

²³May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit.

¹This letter is from Paul, a prisoner for preaching the Good News about Christ Jesus, and from our brother Timothy. I am writing to Philemon, our beloved co-worker,

²and to our sister Apphia, and to our fellow soldier Archippus, and to the church that meets in your house.

³May God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ give you grace and peace.

⁴I always thank my God when I pray for you, Philemon,

⁵because I keep hearing about your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all of God’s people.

⁶And I am praying that you will put into action the generosity that comes from your faith as you understand and experience all the good things we have in Christ.

⁷Your love has given me much joy and comfort, my brother, for your kindness has often refreshed the hearts of God’s people.

⁸That is why I am boldly asking a favor of you. I could demand it in the name of Christ because it is the right thing for you to do.

⁹But because of our love, I prefer simply to ask you. Consider this as a request from me — Paul, an old man and now also a prisoner for the sake of Christ Jesus.

¹⁰I appeal to you to show kindness to my child, Onesimus. I became his father in the faith while here in prison.

¹¹Onesimus hasn’t been of much use to you in the past, but now he is very useful to both of us.

¹²I am sending him back to you, and with him comes my own heart.

¹³I wanted to keep him here with me while I am in these chains for preaching the Good News, and he would have helped me on your behalf.

¹⁴But I didn’t want to do anything without your consent. I wanted you to help because you were willing, not because you were forced.

¹⁵It seems you lost Onesimus for a little while so that you could have him back forever.

¹⁶He is no longer like a slave to you. He is more than a slave, for he is a beloved brother, especially to me. Now he will mean much more to you, both as a man and as a brother in the Lord.

¹⁷So if you consider me your partner, welcome him as you would welcome me.

¹⁸If he has wronged you in any way or owes you anything, charge it to me.

¹⁹I, PAUL, WRITE THIS WITH MY OWN HAND: I WILL REPAY IT. AND I WON’T MENTION THAT YOU OWE ME YOUR VERY SOUL!

²⁰Yes, my brother, please do me this favor for the Lord’s sake. Give me this encouragement in Christ.

²¹I am confident as I write this letter that you will do what I ask and even more!

²²One more thing — please prepare a guest room for me, for I am hoping that God will answer your prayers and let me return to you soon.

²³Epaphras, my fellow prisoner in Christ Jesus, sends you his greetings.

²⁴So do Mark, Aristarchus, Demas, and Luke, my co-workers.

²⁵May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit.

¹“I made a covenant with my eyes not to look with lust at a young woman.

²For what has God above chosen for us? What is our inheritance from the Almighty on high?

³Isn’t it calamity for the wicked and misfortune for those who do evil?

⁴Doesn’t he see everything I do and every step I take?

⁵“Have I lied to anyone or deceived anyone?

⁶Let God weigh me on the scales of justice, for he knows my integrity.

⁷If I have strayed from his pathway, or if my heart has lusted for what my eyes have seen, or if I am guilty of any other sin,

⁸then let someone else eat the crops I have planted. Let all that I have planted be uprooted.

⁹“If my heart has been seduced by a woman, or if I have lusted for my neighbor’s wife,

¹⁰then let my wife serve another man; let other men sleep with her.

¹¹For lust is a shameful sin, a crime that should be punished.

¹²It is a fire that burns all the way to hell. It would wipe out everything I own.

¹³“If I have been unfair to my male or female servants when they brought their complaints to me,

¹⁴how could I face God? What could I say when he questioned me?

¹⁵For God created both me and my servants. He created us both in the womb.

¹⁶“Have I refused to help the poor, or crushed the hopes of widows?

¹⁷Have I been stingy with my food and refused to share it with orphans?

¹⁸No, from childhood I have cared for orphans like a father, and all my life I have cared for widows.

¹⁹Whenever I saw the homeless without clothes and the needy with nothing to wear,

²⁰did they not praise me for providing wool clothing to keep them warm?

²¹“If I raised my hand against an orphan, knowing the judges would take my side,

²²then let my shoulder be wrenched out of place! Let my arm be torn from its socket!

²³That would be better than facing God’s judgment. For if the majesty of God opposes me, what hope is there?

²⁴“Have I put my trust in money or felt secure because of my gold?

²⁵Have I gloated about my wealth and all that I own?

²⁶“Have I looked at the sun shining in the skies, or the moon walking down its silver pathway,

²⁷and been secretly enticed in my heart to throw kisses at them in worship?

²⁸If so, I should be punished by the judges, for it would mean I had denied the God of heaven.

²⁹“Have I ever rejoiced when disaster struck my enemies, or become excited when harm came their way?

³⁰No, I have never sinned by cursing anyone or by asking for revenge.

³¹“My servants have never said, ‘He let others go hungry.’

³²I have never turned away a stranger but have opened my doors to everyone.

³³“Have I tried to hide my sins like other people do, concealing my guilt in my heart?

³⁴Have I feared the crowd or the contempt of the masses, so that I kept quiet and stayed indoors?

³⁵“If only someone would listen to me! Look, I will sign my name to my defense. Let the Almighty answer me. Let my accuser write out the charges against me.

³⁶I would face the accusation proudly. I would wear it like a crown.

³⁷For I would tell him exactly what I have done. I would come before him like a prince.

³⁸“If my land accuses me and all its furrows cry out together,

³⁹or if I have stolen its crops or murdered its owners,

⁴⁰then let thistles grow on that land instead of wheat, and weeds instead of barley.” Job’s words are ended.

¹May God be merciful and bless us. May his face smile with favor on us. Interlude

²May your ways be known throughout the earth, your saving power among people everywhere.

³May the nations praise you, O God. Yes, may all the nations praise you.

⁴Let the whole world sing for joy, because you govern the nations with justice and guide the people of the whole world. Interlude

⁵May the nations praise you, O God. Yes, may all the nations praise you.

⁶Then the earth will yield its harvests, and God, our God, will richly bless us.

⁷Yes, God will bless us, and people all over the world will fear him.

¹The sayings of King Lemuel contain this message, which his mother taught him.

²O my son, O son of my womb, O son of my vows,

³do not waste your strength on women, on those who ruin kings.

⁴It is not for kings, O Lemuel, to guzzle wine. Rulers should not crave alcohol.

⁵For if they drink, they may forget the law and not give justice to the oppressed.

⁶Alcohol is for the dying, and wine for those in bitter distress.

⁷Let them drink to forget their poverty and remember their troubles no more.

⁸Speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves; ensure justice for those being crushed.

⁹Yes, speak up for the poor and helpless, and see that they get justice.

¹⁰Who can find a virtuous and capable wife? She is more precious than rubies.

¹¹Her husband can trust her, and she will greatly enrich his life.

¹²She brings him good, not harm, all the days of her life.

¹³She finds wool and flax and busily spins it.

¹⁴She is like a merchant’s ship, bringing her food from afar.

¹⁵She gets up before dawn to prepare breakfast for her household and plan the day’s work for her servant girls.

¹⁶She goes to inspect a field and buys it; with her earnings she plants a vineyard.

¹⁷She is energetic and strong, a hard worker.

¹⁸She makes sure her dealings are profitable; her lamp burns late into the night.

¹⁹Her hands are busy spinning thread, her fingers twisting fiber.

²⁰She extends a helping hand to the poor and opens her arms to the needy.

²¹She has no fear of winter for her household, for everyone has warm clothes.

²²She makes her own bedspreads. She dresses in fine linen and purple gowns.

²³Her husband is well known at the city gates, where he sits with the other civic leaders.

²⁴She makes belted linen garments and sashes to sell to the merchants.

²⁵She is clothed with strength and dignity, and she laughs without fear of the future.

²⁶When she speaks, her words are wise, and she gives instructions with kindness.

²⁷She carefully watches everything in her household and suffers nothing from laziness.

²⁸Her children stand and bless her. Her husband praises her:

²⁹“There are many virtuous and capable women in the world, but you surpass them all!”

³⁰Charm is deceptive, and beauty does not last; but a woman who fears the LORD will be greatly praised.

³¹Reward her for all she has done. Let her deeds publicly declare her praise.

¹In the first year of King Cyrus of Persia, the LORD fulfilled the prophecy he had given through Jeremiah. He stirred the heart of Cyrus to put this proclamation in writing and to send it throughout his kingdom:

²“This is what King Cyrus of Persia says: “The LORD, the God of heaven, has given me all the kingdoms of the earth. He has appointed me to build him a Temple at Jerusalem, which is in Judah.

³Any of you who are his people may go to Jerusalem in Judah to rebuild this Temple of the LORD, the God of Israel, who lives in Jerusalem. And may your God be with you!

⁴Wherever this Jewish remnant is found, let their neighbors contribute toward their expenses by giving them silver and gold, supplies for the journey, and livestock, as well as a voluntary offering for the Temple of God in Jerusalem.”

⁵Then God stirred the hearts of the priests and Levites and the leaders of the tribes of Judah and Benjamin to go to Jerusalem to rebuild the Temple of the LORD.

⁶And all their neighbors assisted by giving them articles of silver and gold, supplies for the journey, and livestock. They gave them many valuable gifts in addition to all the voluntary offerings.

⁷King Cyrus himself brought out the articles that King Nebuchadnezzar had taken from the LORD’s Temple in Jerusalem and had placed in the temple of his own gods.

⁸Cyrus directed Mithredath, the treasurer of Persia, to count these items and present them to Sheshbazzar, the leader of the exiles returning to Judah.

⁹This is a list of the items that were returned: gold basins — 30 silver basins — 1,000 silver incense burners — 29

¹⁰gold bowls — 30 silver bowls — 410 other items — 1,000

¹¹In all, there were 5,400 articles of gold and silver. Sheshbazzar brought all of these along when the exiles went from Babylon to Jerusalem.

¹I said, “Listen, you leaders of Israel! You are supposed to know right from wrong,

²but you are the very ones who hate good and love evil. You skin my people alive and tear the flesh from their bones.

³Yes, you eat my people’s flesh, strip off their skin, and break their bones. You chop them up like meat for the cooking pot.

⁴Then you beg the LORD for help in times of trouble! Do you really expect him to answer? After all the evil you have done, he won’t even look at you!”

⁵This is what the LORD says: “You false prophets are leading my people astray! You promise peace for those who give you food, but you declare war on those who refuse to feed you.

⁶Now the night will close around you, cutting off all your visions. Darkness will cover you, putting an end to your predictions. The sun will set for you prophets, and your day will come to an end.

⁷Then you seers will be put to shame, and you fortune-tellers will be disgraced. And you will cover your faces because there is no answer from God.”

⁸But as for me, I am filled with power — with the Spirit of the LORD. I am filled with justice and strength to boldly declare Israel’s sin and rebellion.

⁹Listen to me, you leaders of Israel! You hate justice and twist all that is right.

¹⁰You are building Jerusalem on a foundation of murder and corruption.

¹¹You rulers make decisions based on bribes; you priests teach God’s laws only for a price; you prophets won’t prophesy unless you are paid. Yet all of you claim to depend on the LORD. “No harm can come to us,” you say, “for the LORD is here among us.”

¹²Because of you, Mount Zion will be plowed like an open field; Jerusalem will be reduced to ruins! A thicket will grow on the heights where the Temple now stands.

¹After saying farewell to the Ephesian elders, we sailed straight to the island of Cos. The next day we reached Rhodes and then went to Patara.

²There we boarded a ship sailing for Phoenicia.

³We sighted the island of Cyprus, passed it on our left, and landed at the harbor of Tyre, in Syria, where the ship was to unload its cargo.

⁴We went ashore, found the local believers, and stayed with them a week. These believers prophesied through the Holy Spirit that Paul should not go on to Jerusalem.

⁵When we returned to the ship at the end of the week, the entire congregation, including women and children, left the city and came down to the shore with us. There we knelt, prayed,

⁶and said our farewells. Then we went aboard, and they returned home.

⁷The next stop after leaving Tyre was Ptolemais, where we greeted the brothers and sisters and stayed for one day.

⁸The next day we went on to Caesarea and stayed at the home of Philip the Evangelist, one of the seven men who had been chosen to distribute food.

⁹He had four unmarried daughters who had the gift of prophecy.

¹⁰Several days later a man named Agabus, who also had the gift of prophecy, arrived from Judea.

¹¹He came over, took Paul’s belt, and bound his own feet and hands with it. Then he said, “The Holy Spirit declares, ‘So shall the owner of this belt be bound by the Jewish leaders in Jerusalem and turned over to the Gentiles.’”

¹²When we heard this, we and the local believers all begged Paul not to go on to Jerusalem.

¹³But he said, “Why all this weeping? You are breaking my heart! I am ready not only to be jailed at Jerusalem but even to die for the sake of the Lord Jesus.”

¹⁴When it was clear that we couldn’t persuade him, we gave up and said, “The Lord’s will be done.”

¹⁵After this we packed our things and left for Jerusalem.

¹⁶Some believers from Caesarea accompanied us, and they took us to the home of Mnason, a man originally from Cyprus and one of the early believers.

¹⁷When we arrived, the brothers and sisters in Jerusalem welcomed us warmly.

¹⁸The next day Paul went with us to meet with James, and all the elders of the Jerusalem church were present.

¹⁹After greeting them, Paul gave a detailed account of the things God had accomplished among the Gentiles through his ministry.

²⁰After hearing this, they praised God. And then they said, “You know, dear brother, how many thousands of Jews have also believed, and they all follow the law of Moses very seriously.

²¹But the Jewish believers here in Jerusalem have been told that you are teaching all the Jews who live among the Gentiles to turn their backs on the laws of Moses. They’ve heard that you teach them not to circumcise their children or follow other Jewish customs.

²²What should we do? They will certainly hear that you have come.

²³“Here’s what we want you to do. We have four men here who have completed their vow.

²⁴Go with them to the Temple and join them in the purification ceremony, paying for them to have their heads ritually shaved. Then everyone will know that the rumors are all false and that you yourself observe the Jewish laws.

²⁵“As for the Gentile believers, they should do what we already told them in a letter: They should abstain from eating food offered to idols, from consuming blood or the meat of strangled animals, and from sexual immorality.”

²⁶So Paul went to the Temple the next day with the other men. They had already started the purification ritual, so he publicly announced the date when their vows would end and sacrifices would be offered for each of them.

²⁷The seven days were almost ended when some Jews from the province of Asia saw Paul in the Temple and roused a mob against him. They grabbed him,

²⁸yelling, “Men of Israel, help us! This is the man who preaches against our people everywhere and tells everybody to disobey the Jewish laws. He speaks against the Temple — and even defiles this holy place by bringing in Gentiles. ”

²⁹(For earlier that day they had seen him in the city with Trophimus, a Gentile from Ephesus, and they assumed Paul had taken him into the Temple.)

³⁰The whole city was rocked by these accusations, and a great riot followed. Paul was grabbed and dragged out of the Temple, and immediately the gates were closed behind him.

³¹As they were trying to kill him, word reached the commander of the Roman regiment that all Jerusalem was in an uproar.

³²He immediately called out his soldiers and officers and ran down among the crowd. When the mob saw the commander and the troops coming, they stopped beating Paul.

³³Then the commander arrested him and ordered him bound with two chains. He asked the crowd who he was and what he had done.

³⁴Some shouted one thing and some another. Since he couldn’t find out the truth in all the uproar and confusion, he ordered that Paul be taken to the fortress.

³⁵As Paul reached the stairs, the mob grew so violent the soldiers had to lift him to their shoulders to protect him.

³⁶And the crowd followed behind, shouting, “Kill him, kill him!”

³⁷As Paul was about to be taken inside, he said to the commander, “May I have a word with you?” “Do you know Greek?” the commander asked, surprised.

³⁸“Aren’t you the Egyptian who led a rebellion some time ago and took 4,000 members of the Assassins out into the desert?”

³⁹“No,” Paul replied, “I am a Jew and a citizen of Tarsus in Cilicia, which is an important city. Please, let me talk to these people.”

⁴⁰The commander agreed, so Paul stood on the stairs and motioned to the people to be quiet. Soon a deep silence enveloped the crowd, and he addressed them in their own language, Aramaic.