Professor Horner’s Reading Plan

¹When they were approaching Jerusalem, at Bethphage and Bethany, near the Mount of Olives, he sent two of his disciples

²and said to them, “Go into the village ahead of you, and immediately as you enter it, you will find tied there a colt that has never been ridden; untie it and bring it.

³If anyone says to you, ‘Why are you doing this?’ just say this, ‘The Lord needs it and will send it back here immediately.’”

⁴They went away and found a colt tied near a door, outside in the street. As they were untying it,

⁵some of the bystanders said to them, “What are you doing, untying the colt?”

⁶They told them what Jesus had said; and they allowed them to take it.

⁷Then they brought the colt to Jesus and threw their cloaks on it; and he sat on it.

⁸Many people spread their cloaks on the road, and others spread leafy branches that they had cut in the fields.

⁹Then those who went ahead and those who followed were shouting, “Hosanna! Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord!

¹⁰Blessed is the coming kingdom of our ancestor David! Hosanna in the highest heaven!”

¹¹Then he entered Jerusalem and went into the temple; and when he had looked around at everything, as it was already late, he went out to Bethany with the twelve.

¹²On the following day, when they came from Bethany, he was hungry.

¹³Seeing in the distance a fig tree in leaf, he went to see whether perhaps he would find anything on it. When he came to it, he found nothing but leaves, for it was not the season for figs.

¹⁴He said to it, “May no one ever eat fruit from you again.” And his disciples heard it.

¹⁵Then they came to Jerusalem. And he entered the temple and began to drive out those who were selling and those who were buying in the temple, and he overturned the tables of the money changers and the seats of those who sold doves;

¹⁶and he would not allow anyone to carry anything through the temple.

¹⁷He was teaching and saying, “Is it not written, ‘My house shall be called a house of prayer for all the nations’? But you have made it a den of robbers.”

¹⁸And when the chief priests and the scribes heard it, they kept looking for a way to kill him; for they were afraid of him, because the whole crowd was spellbound by his teaching.

¹⁹And when evening came, Jesus and his disciples went out of the city.

²⁰In the morning as they passed by, they saw the fig tree withered away to its roots.

²¹Then Peter remembered and said to him, “Rabbi, look! The fig tree that you cursed has withered.”

²²Jesus answered them, “Have faith in God.

²³Truly I tell you, if you say to this mountain, ‘Be taken up and thrown into the sea,’ and if you do not doubt in your heart, but believe that what you say will come to pass, it will be done for you.

²⁴So I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.

²⁵“Whenever you stand praying, forgive, if you have anything against anyone; so that your Father in heaven may also forgive you your trespasses.”

²⁶

²⁷Again they came to Jerusalem. As he was walking in the temple, the chief priests, the scribes, and the elders came to him

²⁸and said, “By what authority are you doing these things? Who gave you this authority to do them?”

²⁹Jesus said to them, “I will ask you one question; answer me, and I will tell you by what authority I do these things.

³⁰Did the baptism of John come from heaven, or was it of human origin? Answer me.”

³¹They argued with one another, “If we say, ‘From heaven,’ he will say, ‘Why then did you not believe him?’

³²But shall we say, ‘Of human origin’?” — they were afraid of the crowd, for all regarded John as truly a prophet.

³³So they answered Jesus, “We do not know.” And Jesus said to them, “Neither will I tell you by what authority I am doing these things.”

¹When Rachel saw that she bore Jacob no children, she envied her sister; and she said to Jacob, “Give me children, or I shall die!”

²Jacob became very angry with Rachel and said, “Am I in the place of God, who has withheld from you the fruit of the womb?”

³Then she said, “Here is my maid Bilhah; go in to her, that she may bear upon my knees and that I too may have children through her.”

⁴So she gave him her maid Bilhah as a wife; and Jacob went in to her.

⁵And Bilhah conceived and bore Jacob a son.

⁶Then Rachel said, “God has judged me, and has also heard my voice and given me a son”; therefore she named him Dan.

⁷Rachel’s maid Bilhah conceived again and bore Jacob a second son.

⁸Then Rachel said, “With mighty wrestlings I have wrestled with my sister, and have prevailed”; so she named him Naphtali.

⁹When Leah saw that she had ceased bearing children, she took her maid Zilpah and gave her to Jacob as a wife.

¹⁰Then Leah’s maid Zilpah bore Jacob a son.

¹¹And Leah said, “Good fortune!” so she named him Gad.

¹²Leah’s maid Zilpah bore Jacob a second son.

¹³And Leah said, “Happy am I! For the women will call me happy”; so she named him Asher.

¹⁴In the days of wheat harvest Reuben went and found mandrakes in the field, and brought them to his mother Leah. Then Rachel said to Leah, “Please give me some of your son’s mandrakes.”

¹⁵But she said to her, “Is it a small matter that you have taken away my husband? Would you take away my son’s mandrakes also?” Rachel said, “Then he may lie with you tonight for your son’s mandrakes.”

¹⁶When Jacob came from the field in the evening, Leah went out to meet him, and said, “You must come in to me; for I have hired you with my son’s mandrakes.” So he lay with her that night.

¹⁷And God heeded Leah, and she conceived and bore Jacob a fifth son.

¹⁸Leah said, “God has given me my hire because I gave my maid to my husband”; so she named him Issachar.

¹⁹And Leah conceived again, and she bore Jacob a sixth son.

²⁰Then Leah said, “God has endowed me with a good dowry; now my husband will honor me, because I have borne him six sons”; so she named him Zebulun.

²¹Afterwards she bore a daughter, and named her Dinah.

²²Then God remembered Rachel, and God heeded her and opened her womb.

²³She conceived and bore a son, and said, “God has taken away my reproach”;

²⁴and she named him Joseph, saying, “May the LORD add to me another son!”

²⁵When Rachel had borne Joseph, Jacob said to Laban, “Send me away, that I may go to my own home and country.

²⁶Give me my wives and my children for whom I have served you, and let me go; for you know very well the service I have given you.”

²⁷But Laban said to him, “If you will allow me to say so, I have learned by divination that the LORD has blessed me because of you;

²⁸name your wages, and I will give it.”

²⁹Jacob said to him, “You yourself know how I have served you, and how your cattle have fared with me.

³⁰For you had little before I came, and it has increased abundantly; and the LORD has blessed you wherever I turned. But now when shall I provide for my own household also?”

³¹He said, “What shall I give you?” Jacob said, “You shall not give me anything; if you will do this for me, I will again feed your flock and keep it:

³²let me pass through all your flock today, removing from it every speckled and spotted sheep and every black lamb, and the spotted and speckled among the goats; and such shall be my wages.

³³So my honesty will answer for me later, when you come to look into my wages with you. Every one that is not speckled and spotted among the goats and black among the lambs, if found with me, shall be counted stolen.”

³⁴Laban said, “Good! Let it be as you have said.”

³⁵But that day Laban removed the male goats that were striped and spotted, and all the female goats that were speckled and spotted, every one that had white on it, and every lamb that was black, and put them in charge of his sons;

³⁶and he set a distance of three days’ journey between himself and Jacob, while Jacob was pasturing the rest of Laban’s flock.

³⁷Then Jacob took fresh rods of poplar and almond and plane, and peeled white streaks in them, exposing the white of the rods.

³⁸He set the rods that he had peeled in front of the flocks in the troughs, that is, the watering places, where the flocks came to drink. And since they bred when they came to drink,

³⁹the flocks bred in front of the rods, and so the flocks produced young that were striped, speckled, and spotted.

⁴⁰Jacob separated the lambs, and set the faces of the flocks toward the striped and the completely black animals in the flock of Laban; and he put his own droves apart, and did not put them with Laban’s flock.

⁴¹Whenever the stronger of the flock were breeding, Jacob laid the rods in the troughs before the eyes of the flock, that they might breed among the rods,

⁴²but for the feebler of the flock he did not lay them there; so the feebler were Laban’s, and the stronger Jacob’s.

⁴³Thus the man grew exceedingly rich, and had large flocks, and male and female slaves, and camels and donkeys.

¹Therefore, my brothers and sisters, whom I love and long for, my joy and crown, stand firm in the Lord in this way, my beloved.

²I urge Euodia and I urge Syntyche to be of the same mind in the Lord.

³Yes, and I ask you also, my loyal companion, help these women, for they have struggled beside me in the work of the gospel, together with Clement and the rest of my co-workers, whose names are in the book of life.

⁴Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, Rejoice.

⁵Let your gentleness be known to everyone. The Lord is near.

⁶Do not worry about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.

⁷And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

⁸Finally, beloved, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is pleasing, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence and if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.

⁹Keep on doing the things that you have learned and received and heard and seen in me, and the God of peace will be with you.

¹⁰I rejoice in the Lord greatly that now at last you have revived your concern for me; indeed, you were concerned for me, but had no opportunity to show it.

¹¹Not that I am referring to being in need; for I have learned to be content with whatever I have.

¹²I know what it is to have little, and I know what it is to have plenty. In any and all circumstances I have learned the secret of being well-fed and of going hungry, of having plenty and of being in need.

¹³I can do all things through him who strengthens me.

¹⁴In any case, it was kind of you to share my distress.

¹⁵You Philippians indeed know that in the early days of the gospel, when I left Macedonia, no church shared with me in the matter of giving and receiving, except you alone.

¹⁶For even when I was in Thessalonica, you sent me help for my needs more than once.

¹⁷Not that I seek the gift, but I seek the profit that accumulates to your account.

¹⁸I have been paid in full and have more than enough; I am fully satisfied, now that I have received from Epaphroditus the gifts you sent, a fragrant offering, a sacrifice acceptable and pleasing to God.

¹⁹And my God will fully satisfy every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus.

²⁰To our God and Father be glory forever and ever. Amen.

²¹Greet every saint in Christ Jesus. The friends who are with me greet you.

²²All the saints greet you, especially those of the emperor’s household.

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

¹Paul, a prisoner of Christ Jesus, and Timothy our brother, To Philemon our dear friend and co-worker,

²to Apphia our sister, to Archippus our fellow soldier, and to the church in your house:

³Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

⁴When I remember you in my prayers, I always thank my God

⁵because I hear of your love for all the saints and your faith toward the Lord Jesus.

⁶I pray that the sharing of your faith may become effective when you perceive all the good that we may do for Christ.

⁷I have indeed received much joy and encouragement from your love, because the hearts of the saints have been refreshed through you, my brother.

⁸For this reason, though I am bold enough in Christ to command you to do your duty,

⁹yet I would rather appeal to you on the basis of love — and I, Paul, do this as an old man, and now also as a prisoner of Christ Jesus.

¹⁰I am appealing to you for my child, Onesimus, whose father I have become during my imprisonment.

¹¹Formerly he was useless to you, but now he is indeed useful both to you and to me.

¹²I am sending him, that is, my own heart, back to you.

¹³I wanted to keep him with me, so that he might be of service to me in your place during my imprisonment for the gospel;

¹⁴but I preferred to do nothing without your consent, in order that your good deed might be voluntary and not something forced.

¹⁵Perhaps this is the reason he was separated from you for a while, so that you might have him back forever,

¹⁶no longer as a slave but more than a slave, a beloved brother — especially to me but how much more to you, both in the flesh and 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 that to my account.

¹⁹I, Paul, am writing this with my own hand: I will repay it. I say nothing about your owing me even your own self.

²⁰Yes, brother, let me have this benefit from you in the Lord! Refresh my heart in Christ.

²¹Confident of your obedience, I am writing to you, knowing that you will do even more than I say.

²²One thing more — prepare a guest room for me, for I am hoping through your prayers to be restored to you.

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

²⁴and so do Mark, Aristarchus, Demas, and Luke, my fellow workers.

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

¹“I have made a covenant with my eyes; how then could I look upon a virgin?

²What would be my portion from God above, and my heritage from the Almighty on high?

³Does not calamity befall the unrighteous, and disaster the workers of iniquity?

⁴Does he not see my ways, and number all my steps?

⁵“If I have walked with falsehood, and my foot has hurried to deceit —

⁶let me be weighed in a just balance, and let God know my integrity! —

⁷if my step has turned aside from the way, and my heart has followed my eyes, and if any spot has clung to my hands;

⁸then let me sow, and another eat; and let what grows for me be rooted out.

⁹“If my heart has been enticed by a woman, and I have lain in wait at my neighbor’s door;

¹⁰then let my wife grind for another, and let other men kneel over her.

¹¹For that would be a heinous crime; that would be a criminal offense;

¹²for that would be a fire consuming down to Abaddon, and it would burn to the root all my harvest.

¹³“If I have rejected the cause of my male or female slaves, when they brought a complaint against me;

¹⁴what then shall I do when God rises up? When he makes inquiry, what shall I answer him?

¹⁵Did not he who made me in the womb make them? And did not one fashion us in the womb?

¹⁶“If I have withheld anything that the poor desired, or have caused the eyes of the widow to fail,

¹⁷or have eaten my morsel alone, and the orphan has not eaten from it —

¹⁸for from my youth I reared the orphan like a father, and from my mother’s womb I guided the widow —

¹⁹if I have seen anyone perish for lack of clothing, or a poor person without covering,

²⁰whose loins have not blessed me, and who was not warmed with the fleece of my sheep;

²¹if I have raised my hand against the orphan, because I saw I had supporters at the gate;

²²then let my shoulder blade fall from my shoulder, and let my arm be broken from its socket.

²³For I was in terror of calamity from God, and I could not have faced his majesty.

²⁴“If I have made gold my trust, or called fine gold my confidence;

²⁵if I have rejoiced because my wealth was great, or because my hand had gotten much;

²⁶if I have looked at the sun when it shone, or the moon moving in splendor,

²⁷and my heart has been secretly enticed, and my mouth has kissed my hand;

²⁸this also would be an iniquity to be punished by the judges, for I should have been false to God above.

²⁹“If I have rejoiced at the ruin of those who hated me, or exulted when evil overtook them —

³⁰I have not let my mouth sin by asking for their lives with a curse —

³¹if those of my tent ever said, ‘O that we might be sated with his flesh!’ —

³²the stranger has not lodged in the street; I have opened my doors to the traveler —

³³if I have concealed my transgressions as others do, by hiding my iniquity in my bosom,

³⁴because I stood in great fear of the multitude, and the contempt of families terrified me, so that I kept silence, and did not go out of doors —

³⁵O that I had one to hear me! (Here is my signature! Let the Almighty answer me!) O that I had the indictment written by my adversary!

³⁶Surely I would carry it on my shoulder; I would bind it on me like a crown;

³⁷I would give him an account of all my steps; like a prince I would approach him.

³⁸“If my land has cried out against me, and its furrows have wept together;

³⁹if I have eaten its yield without payment, and caused the death of its owners;

⁴⁰let thorns grow instead of wheat, and foul weeds instead of barley.” The words of Job are ended.

¹May God be gracious to us and bless us and make his face to shine upon us, Selah

²that your way may be known upon earth, your saving power among all nations.

³Let the peoples praise you, O God; let all the peoples praise you.

⁴Let the nations be glad and sing for joy, for you judge the peoples with equity and guide the nations upon earth. Selah

⁵Let the peoples praise you, O God; let all the peoples praise you.

⁶The earth has yielded its increase; God, our God, has blessed us.

⁷May God continue to bless us; let all the ends of the earth revere him.

¹The words of King Lemuel. An oracle that his mother taught him:

²No, my son! No, son of my womb! No, son of my vows!

³Do not give your strength to women, your ways to those who destroy kings.

⁴It is not for kings, O Lemuel, it is not for kings to drink wine, or for rulers to desire strong drink;

⁵or else they will drink and forget what has been decreed, and will pervert the rights of all the afflicted.

⁶Give strong drink to one who is perishing, and wine to those in bitter distress;

⁷let them drink and forget their poverty, and remember their misery no more.

⁸Speak out for those who cannot speak, for the rights of all the destitute.

⁹Speak out, judge righteously, defend the rights of the poor and needy.

¹⁰A capable wife who can find? She is far more precious than jewels.

¹¹The heart of her husband trusts in her, and he will have no lack of gain.

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

¹³She seeks wool and flax, and works with willing hands.

¹⁴She is like the ships of the merchant, she brings her food from far away.

¹⁵She rises while it is still night and provides food for her household and tasks for her servant-girls.

¹⁶She considers a field and buys it; with the fruit of her hands she plants a vineyard.

¹⁷She girds herself with strength, and makes her arms strong.

¹⁸She perceives that her merchandise is profitable. Her lamp does not go out at night.

¹⁹She puts her hands to the distaff, and her hands hold the spindle.

²⁰She opens her hand to the poor, and reaches out her hands to the needy.

²¹She is not afraid for her household when it snows, for all her household are clothed in crimson.

²²She makes herself coverings; her clothing is fine linen and purple.

²³Her husband is known in the city gates, taking his seat among the elders of the land.

²⁴She makes linen garments and sells them; she supplies the merchant with sashes.

²⁵Strength and dignity are her clothing, and she laughs at the time to come.

²⁶She opens her mouth with wisdom, and the teaching of kindness is on her tongue.

²⁷She looks well to the ways of her household, and does not eat the bread of idleness.

²⁸Her children rise up and call her happy; her husband too, and he praises her:

²⁹“Many women have done excellently, but you surpass them all.”

³⁰Charm is deceitful, and beauty is vain, but a woman who fears the LORD is to be praised.

³¹Give her a share in the fruit of her hands, and let her works praise her in the city gates.

¹In the first year of King Cyrus of Persia, in order that the word of the LORD by the mouth of Jeremiah might be accomplished, the LORD stirred up the spirit of King Cyrus of Persia so that he sent a herald throughout all his kingdom, and also in a written edict declared:

²“Thus says King Cyrus of Persia: The LORD, the God of heaven, has given me all the kingdoms of the earth, and he has charged me to build him a house at Jerusalem in Judah.

³Any of those among you who are of his people — may their God be with them! — are now permitted to go up to Jerusalem in Judah, and rebuild the house of the LORD, the God of Israel — he is the God who is in Jerusalem;

⁴and let all survivors, in whatever place they reside, be assisted by the people of their place with silver and gold, with goods and with animals, besides freewill offerings for the house of God in Jerusalem.”

⁵The heads of the families of Judah and Benjamin, and the priests and the Levites — everyone whose spirit God had stirred — got ready to go up and rebuild the house of the LORD in Jerusalem.

⁶All their neighbors aided them with silver vessels, with gold, with goods, with animals, and with valuable gifts, besides all that was freely offered.

⁷King Cyrus himself brought out the vessels of the house of the LORD that Nebuchadnezzar had carried away from Jerusalem and placed in the house of his gods.

⁸King Cyrus of Persia had them released into the charge of Mithredath the treasurer, who counted them out to Sheshbazzar the prince of Judah.

⁹And this was the inventory: gold basins, thirty; silver basins, one thousand; knives, twenty-nine;

¹⁰gold bowls, thirty; other silver bowls, four hundred ten; other vessels, one thousand;

¹¹the total of the gold and silver vessels was five thousand four hundred. All these Sheshbazzar brought up, when the exiles were brought up from Babylonia to Jerusalem.

¹And I said: Listen, you heads of Jacob and rulers of the house of Israel! Should you not know justice? —

²you who hate the good and love the evil, who tear the skin off my people, and the flesh off their bones;

³who eat the flesh of my people, flay their skin off them, break their bones in pieces, and chop them up like meat in a kettle, like flesh in a caldron.

⁴Then they will cry to the LORD, but he will not answer them; he will hide his face from them at that time, because they have acted wickedly.

⁵Thus says the LORD concerning the prophets who lead my people astray, who cry “Peace” when they have something to eat, but declare war against those who put nothing into their mouths.

⁶Therefore it shall be night to you, without vision, and darkness to you, without revelation. The sun shall go down upon the prophets, and the day shall be black over them;

⁷the seers shall be disgraced, and the diviners put to shame; they shall all cover their lips, for there is no answer from God.

⁸But as for me, I am filled with power, with the spirit of the LORD, and with justice and might, to declare to Jacob his transgression and to Israel his sin.

⁹Hear this, you rulers of the house of Jacob and chiefs of the house of Israel, who abhor justice and pervert all equity,

¹⁰who build Zion with blood and Jerusalem with wrong!

¹¹Its rulers give judgment for a bribe, its priests teach for a price, its prophets give oracles for money; yet they lean upon the LORD and say, “Surely the LORD is with us! No harm shall come upon us.”

¹²Therefore because of you Zion shall be plowed as a field; Jerusalem shall become a heap of ruins, and the mountain of the house a wooded height.

¹When we had parted from them and set sail, we came by a straight course to Cos, and the next day to Rhodes, and from there to Patara.

²When we found a ship bound for Phoenicia, we went on board and set sail.

³We came in sight of Cyprus; and leaving it on our left, we sailed to Syria and landed at Tyre, because the ship was to unload its cargo there.

⁴We looked up the disciples and stayed there for seven days. Through the Spirit they told Paul not to go on to Jerusalem.

⁵When our days there were ended, we left and proceeded on our journey; and all of them, with wives and children, escorted us outside the city. There we knelt down on the beach and prayed

⁶and said farewell to one another. Then we went on board the ship, and they returned home.

⁷When we had finished the voyage from Tyre, we arrived at Ptolemais; and we greeted the believers and stayed with them for one day.

⁸The next day we left and came to Caesarea; and we went into the house of Philip the evangelist, one of the seven, and stayed with him.

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

¹⁰While we were staying there for several days, a prophet named Agabus came down from Judea.

¹¹He came to us and took Paul’s belt, bound his own feet and hands with it, and said, “Thus says the Holy Spirit, ‘This is the way the Jews in Jerusalem will bind the man who owns this belt and will hand him over to the Gentiles.’”

¹²When we heard this, we and the people there urged him not to go up to Jerusalem.

¹³Then Paul answered, “What are you doing, weeping and breaking my heart? For I am ready not only to be bound but even to die in Jerusalem for the name of the Lord Jesus.”

¹⁴Since he would not be persuaded, we remained silent except to say, “The Lord’s will be done.”

¹⁵After these days we got ready and started to go up to Jerusalem.

¹⁶Some of the disciples from Caesarea also came along and brought us to the house of Mnason of Cyprus, an early disciple, with whom we were to stay.

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

¹⁸The next day Paul went with us to visit James; and all the elders were present.

¹⁹After greeting them, he related one by one the things that God had done among the Gentiles through his ministry.

²⁰When they heard it, they praised God. Then they said to him, “You see, brother, how many thousands of believers there are among the Jews, and they are all zealous for the law.

²¹They have been told about you that you teach all the Jews living among the Gentiles to forsake Moses, and that you tell them not to circumcise their children or observe the customs.

²²What then is to be done? They will certainly hear that you have come.

²³So do what we tell you. We have four men who are under a vow.

²⁴Join these men, go through the rite of purification with them, and pay for the shaving of their heads. Thus all will know that there is nothing in what they have been told about you, but that you yourself observe and guard the law.

²⁵But as for the Gentiles who have become believers, we have sent a letter with our judgment that they should abstain from what has been sacrificed to idols and from blood and from what is strangled and from fornication.”

²⁶Then Paul took the men, and the next day, having purified himself, he entered the temple with them, making public the completion of the days of purification when the sacrifice would be made for each of them.

²⁷When the seven days were almost completed, the Jews from Asia, who had seen him in the temple, stirred up the whole crowd. They seized him,

²⁸shouting, “Fellow Israelites, help! This is the man who is teaching everyone everywhere against our people, our law, and this place; more than that, he has actually brought Greeks into the temple and has defiled this holy place.”

²⁹For they had previously seen Trophimus the Ephesian with him in the city, and they supposed that Paul had brought him into the temple.

³⁰Then all the city was aroused, and the people rushed together. They seized Paul and dragged him out of the temple, and immediately the doors were shut.

³¹While they were trying to kill him, word came to the tribune of the cohort that all Jerusalem was in an uproar.

³²Immediately he took soldiers and centurions and ran down to them. When they saw the tribune and the soldiers, they stopped beating Paul.

³³Then the tribune came, arrested him, and ordered him to be bound with two chains; he inquired who he was and what he had done.

³⁴Some in the crowd shouted one thing, some another; and as he could not learn the facts because of the uproar, he ordered him to be brought into the barracks.

³⁵When Paul came to the steps, the violence of the mob was so great that he had to be carried by the soldiers.

³⁶The crowd that followed kept shouting, “Away with him!”

³⁷Just as Paul was about to be brought into the barracks, he said to the tribune, “May I say something to you?” The tribune replied, “Do you know Greek?

³⁸Then you are not the Egyptian who recently stirred up a revolt and led the four thousand assassins out into the wilderness?”

³⁹Paul replied, “I am a Jew, from Tarsus in Cilicia, a citizen of an important city; I beg you, let me speak to the people.”

⁴⁰When he had given him permission, Paul stood on the steps and motioned to the people for silence; and when there was a great hush, he addressed them in the Hebrew language, saying: