Professor Horner’s Reading Plan

¹And he began to speak to them in parables. “A man planted a vineyard and put a fence around it and dug a pit for the winepress and built a tower, and leased it to tenants and went into another country.

²When the season came, he sent a servant to the tenants to get from them some of the fruit of the vineyard.

³ And they took him and beat him and sent him away empty-handed.

⁴ Again he sent to them another servant, and they struck him on the head and treated him shamefully.

⁵ And he sent another, and him they killed. And so with many others: some they beat, and some they killed.

⁶He had still one other, a beloved son. Finally he sent him to them, saying, ‘They will respect my son.’

⁷But those tenants said to one another, ‘This is the heir. Come, let us kill him, and the inheritance will be ours.’

⁸And they took him and killed him and threw him out of the vineyard.

⁹What will the owner of the vineyard do? He will come and destroy the tenants and give the vineyard to others.

¹⁰ Have you not read this Scripture: “‘The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone;

¹¹this was the Lord's doing, and it is marvelous in our eyes’?”

¹²And they were seeking to arrest him but feared the people, for they perceived that he had told the parable against them. So they left him and went away.

¹³And they sent to him some of the Pharisees and some of the Herodians, to trap him in his talk.

¹⁴And they came and said to him, “Teacher, we know that you are true and do not care about anyone's opinion. For you are not swayed by appearances, but truly teach the way of God. Is it lawful to pay taxes to Caesar, or not? Should we pay them, or should we not?”

¹⁵But, knowing their hypocrisy, he said to them, “Why put me to the test? Bring me a denarius and let me look at it.”

¹⁶And they brought one. And he said to them, “Whose likeness and inscription is this?” They said to him, “Caesar's.”

¹⁷Jesus said to them, “Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and to God the things that are God's.” And they marveled at him.

¹⁸And Sadducees came to him, who say that there is no resurrection. And they asked him a question, saying,

¹⁹“Teacher, Moses wrote for us that if a man's brother dies and leaves a wife, but leaves no child, the man must take the widow and raise up offspring for his brother.

²⁰There were seven brothers; the first took a wife, and when he died left no offspring.

²¹And the second took her, and died, leaving no offspring. And the third likewise.

²²And the seven left no offspring. Last of all the woman also died.

²³In the resurrection, when they rise again, whose wife will she be? For the seven had her as wife.”

²⁴Jesus said to them, “Is this not the reason you are wrong, because you know neither the Scriptures nor the power of God?

²⁵For when they rise from the dead, they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are like angels in heaven.

²⁶And as for the dead being raised, have you not read in the book of Moses, in the passage about the bush, how God spoke to him, saying, ‘I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob’?

²⁷He is not God of the dead, but of the living. You are quite wrong.”

²⁸And one of the scribes came up and heard them disputing with one another, and seeing that he answered them well, asked him, “Which commandment is the most important of all?”

²⁹Jesus answered, “The most important is, ‘Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one.

³⁰And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’

³¹ The second is this: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.”

³²And the scribe said to him, “You are right, Teacher. You have truly said that he is one, and there is no other besides him.

³³And to love him with all the heart and with all the understanding and with all the strength, and to love one's neighbor as oneself, is much more than all whole burnt offerings and sacrifices.”

³⁴And when Jesus saw that he answered wisely, he said to him, “You are not far from the kingdom of God.” And after that no one dared to ask him any more questions.

³⁵And as Jesus taught in the temple, he said, “How can the scribes say that the Christ is the son of David?

³⁶David himself, in the Holy Spirit, declared, “‘The Lord said to my Lord, “Sit at my right hand, until I put your enemies under your feet.”’

³⁷David himself calls him Lord. So how is he his son?” And the great throng heard him gladly.

³⁸And in his teaching he said, “Beware of the scribes, who like to walk around in long robes and like greetings in the marketplaces

³⁹and have the best seats in the synagogues and the places of honor at feasts,

⁴⁰ who devour widows' houses and for a pretense make long prayers. They will receive the greater condemnation.”

⁴¹And he sat down opposite the treasury and watched the people putting money into the offering box. Many rich people put in large sums.

⁴²And a poor widow came and put in two small copper coins, which make a penny.

⁴³And he called his disciples to him and said to them, “Truly, I say to you, this poor widow has put in more than all those who are contributing to the offering box.

⁴⁴For they all contributed out of their abundance, but she out of her poverty has put in everything she had, all she had to live on.”

¹Now Jacob heard that the sons of Laban were saying, “Jacob has taken all that was our father's, and from what was our father's he has gained all this wealth.”

²And Jacob saw that Laban did not regard him with favor as before.

³Then the LORD said to Jacob, “Return to the land of your fathers and to your kindred, and I will be with you.”

⁴So Jacob sent and called Rachel and Leah into the field where his flock was

⁵and said to them, “I see that your father does not regard me with favor as he did before. But the God of my father has been with me.

⁶You know that I have served your father with all my strength,

⁷yet your father has cheated me and changed my wages ten times. But God did not permit him to harm me.

⁸If he said, ‘The spotted shall be your wages,’ then all the flock bore spotted; and if he said, ‘The striped shall be your wages,’ then all the flock bore striped.

⁹Thus God has taken away the livestock of your father and given them to me.

¹⁰In the breeding season of the flock I lifted up my eyes and saw in a dream that the goats that mated with the flock were striped, spotted, and mottled.

¹¹Then the angel of God said to me in the dream, ‘Jacob,’ and I said, ‘Here I am!’

¹²And he said, ‘Lift up your eyes and see, all the goats that mate with the flock are striped, spotted, and mottled, for I have seen all that Laban is doing to you.

¹³I am the God of Bethel, where you anointed a pillar and made a vow to me. Now arise, go out from this land and return to the land of your kindred.’”

¹⁴Then Rachel and Leah answered and said to him, “Is there any portion or inheritance left to us in our father's house?

¹⁵Are we not regarded by him as foreigners? For he has sold us, and he has indeed devoured our money.

¹⁶All the wealth that God has taken away from our father belongs to us and to our children. Now then, whatever God has said to you, do.”

¹⁷So Jacob arose and set his sons and his wives on camels.

¹⁸He drove away all his livestock, all his property that he had gained, the livestock in his possession that he had acquired in Paddan-aram, to go to the land of Canaan to his father Isaac.

¹⁹Laban had gone to shear his sheep, and Rachel stole her father's household gods.

²⁰And Jacob tricked Laban the Aramean, by not telling him that he intended to flee.

²¹He fled with all that he had and arose and crossed the Euphrates, and set his face toward the hill country of Gilead.

²²When it was told Laban on the third day that Jacob had fled,

²³he took his kinsmen with him and pursued him for seven days and followed close after him into the hill country of Gilead.

²⁴But God came to Laban the Aramean in a dream by night and said to him, “Be careful not to say anything to Jacob, either good or bad.”

²⁵And Laban overtook Jacob. Now Jacob had pitched his tent in the hill country, and Laban with his kinsmen pitched tents in the hill country of Gilead.

²⁶And Laban said to Jacob, “What have you done, that you have tricked me and driven away my daughters like captives of the sword?

²⁷Why did you flee secretly and trick me, and did not tell me, so that I might have sent you away with mirth and songs, with tambourine and lyre?

²⁸And why did you not permit me to kiss my sons and my daughters farewell? Now you have done foolishly.

²⁹It is in my power to do you harm. But the God of your father spoke to me last night, saying, ‘Be careful not to say anything to Jacob, either good or bad.’

³⁰And now you have gone away because you longed greatly for your father's house, but why did you steal my gods?”

³¹Jacob answered and said to Laban, “Because I was afraid, for I thought that you would take your daughters from me by force.

³²Anyone with whom you find your gods shall not live. In the presence of our kinsmen point out what I have that is yours, and take it.” Now Jacob did not know that Rachel had stolen them.

³³So Laban went into Jacob's tent and into Leah's tent and into the tent of the two female servants, but he did not find them. And he went out of Leah's tent and entered Rachel's.

³⁴Now Rachel had taken the household gods and put them in the camel's saddle and sat on them. Laban felt all about the tent, but did not find them.

³⁵And she said to her father, “Let not my lord be angry that I cannot rise before you, for the way of women is upon me.” So he searched but did not find the household gods.

³⁶Then Jacob became angry and berated Laban. Jacob said to Laban, “What is my offense? What is my sin, that you have hotly pursued me?

³⁷For you have felt through all my goods; what have you found of all your household goods? Set it here before my kinsmen and your kinsmen, that they may decide between us two.

³⁸These twenty years I have been with you. Your ewes and your female goats have not miscarried, and I have not eaten the rams of your flocks.

³⁹What was torn by wild beasts I did not bring to you. I bore the loss of it myself. From my hand you required it, whether stolen by day or stolen by night.

⁴⁰There I was: by day the heat consumed me, and the cold by night, and my sleep fled from my eyes.

⁴¹These twenty years I have been in your house. I served you fourteen years for your two daughters, and six years for your flock, and you have changed my wages ten times.

⁴²If the God of my father, the God of Abraham and the Fear of Isaac, had not been on my side, surely now you would have sent me away empty-handed. God saw my affliction and the labor of my hands and rebuked you last night.”

⁴³Then Laban answered and said to Jacob, “The daughters are my daughters, the children are my children, the flocks are my flocks, and all that you see is mine. But what can I do this day for these my daughters or for their children whom they have borne?

⁴⁴Come now, let us make a covenant, you and I. And let it be a witness between you and me.”

⁴⁵So Jacob took a stone and set it up as a pillar.

⁴⁶And Jacob said to his kinsmen, “Gather stones.” And they took stones and made a heap, and they ate there by the heap.

⁴⁷Laban called it Jegar-sahadutha, but Jacob called it Galeed.

⁴⁸Laban said, “This heap is a witness between you and me today.” Therefore he named it Galeed,

⁴⁹and Mizpah, for he said, “The LORD watch between you and me, when we are out of one another's sight.

⁵⁰If you oppress my daughters, or if you take wives besides my daughters, although no one is with us, see, God is witness between you and me.”

⁵¹Then Laban said to Jacob, “See this heap and the pillar, which I have set between you and me.

⁵²This heap is a witness, and the pillar is a witness, that I will not pass over this heap to you, and you will not pass over this heap and this pillar to me, to do harm.

⁵³The God of Abraham and the God of Nahor, the God of their father, judge between us.” So Jacob swore by the Fear of his father Isaac,

⁵⁴and Jacob offered a sacrifice in the hill country and called his kinsmen to eat bread. They ate bread and spent the night in the hill country.

⁵⁵Early in the morning Laban arose and kissed his grandchildren and his daughters and blessed them. Then Laban departed and returned home.

¹Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and Timothy our brother,

²To the saints and faithful brothers in Christ at Colossae: Grace to you and peace from God our Father.

³We always thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you,

⁴since we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of the love that you have for all the saints,

⁵because of the hope laid up for you in heaven. Of this you have heard before in the word of the truth, the gospel,

⁶which has come to you, as indeed in the whole world it is bearing fruit and increasing — as it also does among you, since the day you heard it and understood the grace of God in truth,

⁷just as you learned it from Epaphras our beloved fellow servant. He is a faithful minister of Christ on your behalf

⁸and has made known to us your love in the Spirit.

⁹And so, from the day we heard, we have not ceased to pray for you, asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of his will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding,

¹⁰so as to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him: bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God;

¹¹being strengthened with all power, according to his glorious might, for all endurance and patience with joy;

¹²giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in light.

¹³He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son,

¹⁴in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.

¹⁵He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation.

¹⁶For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities — all things were created through him and for him.

¹⁷And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together.

¹⁸And he is the head of the body, the church. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in everything he might be preeminent.

¹⁹For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell,

²⁰and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross.

²¹And you, who once were alienated and hostile in mind, doing evil deeds,

²²he has now reconciled in his body of flesh by his death, in order to present you holy and blameless and above reproach before him,

²³if indeed you continue in the faith, stable and steadfast, not shifting from the hope of the gospel that you heard, which has been proclaimed in all creation under heaven, and of which I, Paul, became a minister.

²⁴Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh I am filling up what is lacking in Christ's afflictions for the sake of his body, that is, the church,

²⁵of which I became a minister according to the stewardship from God that was given to me for you, to make the word of God fully known,

²⁶the mystery hidden for ages and generations but now revealed to his saints.

²⁷To them God chose to make known how great among the Gentiles are the riches of the glory of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.

²⁸Him we proclaim, warning everyone and teaching everyone with all wisdom, that we may present everyone mature in Christ.

²⁹For this I toil, struggling with all his energy that he powerfully works within me.

¹James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, To the twelve tribes in the Dispersion: Greetings.

²Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds,

³for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness.

⁴And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.

⁵If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him.

⁶But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind.

⁷For that person must not suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord;

⁸he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways.

⁹Let the lowly brother boast in his exaltation,

¹⁰and the rich in his humiliation, because like a flower of the grass he will pass away.

¹¹For the sun rises with its scorching heat and withers the grass; its flower falls, and its beauty perishes. So also will the rich man fade away in the midst of his pursuits.

¹²Blessed is the man who remains steadfast under trial, for when he has stood the test he will receive the crown of life, which God has promised to those who love him.

¹³Let no one say when he is tempted, “I am being tempted by God,” for God cannot be tempted with evil, and he himself tempts no one.

¹⁴But each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire.

¹⁵Then desire when it has conceived gives birth to sin, and sin when it is fully grown brings forth death.

¹⁶Do not be deceived, my beloved brothers.

¹⁷Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change.

¹⁸Of his own will he brought us forth by the word of truth, that we should be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures.

¹⁹Know this, my beloved brothers: let every person be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger;

²⁰for the anger of man does not produce the righteousness of God.

²¹Therefore put away all filthiness and rampant wickedness and receive with meekness the implanted word, which is able to save your souls.

²²But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves.

²³For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks intently at his natural face in a mirror.

²⁴For he looks at himself and goes away and at once forgets what he was like.

²⁵But the one who looks into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and perseveres, being no hearer who forgets but a doer who acts, he will be blessed in his doing.

²⁶If anyone thinks he is religious and does not bridle his tongue but deceives his heart, this person's religion is worthless.

²⁷Religion that is pure and undefiled before God the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world.

¹So these three men ceased to answer Job, because he was righteous in his own eyes.

²Then Elihu the son of Barachel the Buzite, of the family of Ram, burned with anger. He burned with anger at Job because he justified himself rather than God.

³He burned with anger also at Job's three friends because they had found no answer, although they had declared Job to be in the wrong.

⁴Now Elihu had waited to speak to Job because they were older than he.

⁵And when Elihu saw that there was no answer in the mouth of these three men, he burned with anger.

⁶And Elihu the son of Barachel the Buzite answered and said: “I am young in years, and you are aged; therefore I was timid and afraid to declare my opinion to you.

⁷I said, ‘Let days speak, and many years teach wisdom.’

⁸But it is the spirit in man, the breath of the Almighty, that makes him understand.

⁹It is not the old who are wise, nor the aged who understand what is right.

¹⁰Therefore I say, ‘Listen to me; let me also declare my opinion.’

¹¹“Behold, I waited for your words, I listened for your wise sayings, while you searched out what to say.

¹²I gave you my attention, and, behold, there was none among you who refuted Job or who answered his words.

¹³Beware lest you say, ‘We have found wisdom; God may vanquish him, not a man.’

¹⁴He has not directed his words against me, and I will not answer him with your speeches.

¹⁵“They are dismayed; they answer no more; they have not a word to say.

¹⁶And shall I wait, because they do not speak, because they stand there, and answer no more?

¹⁷I also will answer with my share; I also will declare my opinion.

¹⁸For I am full of words; the spirit within me constrains me.

¹⁹Behold, my belly is like wine that has no vent; like new wineskins ready to burst.

²⁰I must speak, that I may find relief; I must open my lips and answer.

²¹I will not show partiality to any man or use flattery toward any person.

²²For I do not know how to flatter, else my Maker would soon take me away.

¹God shall arise, his enemies shall be scattered; and those who hate him shall flee before him!

²As smoke is driven away, so you shall drive them away; as wax melts before fire, so the wicked shall perish before God!

³But the righteous shall be glad; they shall exult before God; they shall be jubilant with joy!

⁴Sing to God, sing praises to his name; lift up a song to him who rides through the deserts; his name is the LORD; exult before him!

⁵Father of the fatherless and protector of widows is God in his holy habitation.

⁶God settles the solitary in a home; he leads out the prisoners to prosperity, but the rebellious dwell in a parched land.

⁷O God, when you went out before your people, when you marched through the wilderness, Selah

⁸the earth quaked, the heavens poured down rain, before God, the One of Sinai, before God, the God of Israel.

⁹Rain in abundance, O God, you shed abroad; you restored your inheritance as it languished;

¹⁰your flock found a dwelling in it; in your goodness, O God, you provided for the needy.

¹¹The Lord gives the word; the women who announce the news are a great host:

¹²“The kings of the armies — they flee, they flee!” The women at home divide the spoil —

¹³though you men lie among the sheepfolds — the wings of a dove covered with silver, its pinions with shimmering gold.

¹⁴When the Almighty scatters kings there, let snow fall on Zalmon.

¹⁵O mountain of God, mountain of Bashan; O many-peaked mountain, mountain of Bashan!

¹⁶Why do you look with hatred, O many-peaked mountain, at the mount that God desired for his abode, yes, where the LORD will dwell forever?

¹⁷The chariots of God are twice ten thousand, thousands upon thousands; the Lord is among them; Sinai is now in the sanctuary.

¹⁸You ascended on high, leading a host of captives in your train and receiving gifts among men, even among the rebellious, that the LORD God may dwell there.

¹⁹Blessed be the Lord, who daily bears us up; God is our salvation. Selah

²⁰Our God is a God of salvation, and to GOD, the Lord, belong deliverances from death.

²¹But God will strike the heads of his enemies, the hairy crown of him who walks in his guilty ways.

²²The Lord said, “I will bring them back from Bashan, I will bring them back from the depths of the sea,

²³that you may strike your feet in their blood, that the tongues of your dogs may have their portion from the foe.”

²⁴Your procession is seen, O God, the procession of my God, my King, into the sanctuary —

²⁵the singers in front, the musicians last, between them virgins playing tambourines:

²⁶“Bless God in the great congregation, the LORD, O you who are of Israel's fountain!”

²⁷There is Benjamin, the least of them, in the lead, the princes of Judah in their throng, the princes of Zebulun, the princes of Naphtali.

²⁸Summon your power, O God, the power, O God, by which you have worked for us.

²⁹Because of your temple at Jerusalem kings shall bear gifts to you.

³⁰Rebuke the beasts that dwell among the reeds, the herd of bulls with the calves of the peoples. Trample underfoot those who lust after tribute; scatter the peoples who delight in war.

³¹Nobles shall come from Egypt; Cush shall hasten to stretch out her hands to God.

³²O kingdoms of the earth, sing to God; sing praises to the Lord, Selah

³³to him who rides in the heavens, the ancient heavens; behold, he sends out his voice, his mighty voice.

³⁴Ascribe power to God, whose majesty is over Israel, and whose power is in the skies.

³⁵Awesome is God from his sanctuary; the God of Israel — he is the one who gives power and strength to his people. Blessed be God!

¹The proverbs of Solomon, son of David, king of Israel:

²To know wisdom and instruction, to understand words of insight,

³to receive instruction in wise dealing, in righteousness, justice, and equity;

⁴to give prudence to the simple, knowledge and discretion to the youth —

⁵Let the wise hear and increase in learning, and the one who understands obtain guidance,

⁶to understand a proverb and a saying, the words of the wise and their riddles.

⁷The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge; fools despise wisdom and instruction.

⁸Hear, my son, your father's instruction, and forsake not your mother's teaching,

⁹for they are a graceful garland for your head and pendants for your neck.

¹⁰My son, if sinners entice you, do not consent.

¹¹If they say, “Come with us, let us lie in wait for blood; let us ambush the innocent without reason;

¹²like Sheol let us swallow them alive, and whole, like those who go down to the pit;

¹³we shall find all precious goods, we shall fill our houses with plunder;

¹⁴throw in your lot among us; we will all have one purse” —

¹⁵my son, do not walk in the way with them; hold back your foot from their paths,

¹⁶for their feet run to evil, and they make haste to shed blood.

¹⁷For in vain is a net spread in the sight of any bird,

¹⁸but these men lie in wait for their own blood; they set an ambush for their own lives.

¹⁹Such are the ways of everyone who is greedy for unjust gain; it takes away the life of its possessors.

²⁰Wisdom cries aloud in the street, in the markets she raises her voice;

²¹at the head of the noisy streets she cries out; at the entrance of the city gates she speaks:

²²“How long, O simple ones, will you love being simple? How long will scoffers delight in their scoffing and fools hate knowledge?

²³If you turn at my reproof, behold, I will pour out my spirit to you; I will make my words known to you.

²⁴Because I have called and you refused to listen, have stretched out my hand and no one has heeded,

²⁵because you have ignored all my counsel and would have none of my reproof,

²⁶I also will laugh at your calamity; I will mock when terror strikes you,

²⁷when terror strikes you like a storm and your calamity comes like a whirlwind, when distress and anguish come upon you.

²⁸Then they will call upon me, but I will not answer; they will seek me diligently but will not find me.

²⁹Because they hated knowledge and did not choose the fear of the LORD,

³⁰would have none of my counsel and despised all my reproof,

³¹therefore they shall eat the fruit of their way, and have their fill of their own devices.

³²For the simple are killed by their turning away, and the complacency of fools destroys them;

³³but whoever listens to me will dwell secure and will be at ease, without dread of disaster.”

¹Now these were the people of the province who came up out of the captivity of those exiles whom Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon had carried captive to Babylonia. They returned to Jerusalem and Judah, each to his own town.

²They came with Zerubbabel, Jeshua, Nehemiah, Seraiah, Reelaiah, Mordecai, Bilshan, Mispar, Bigvai, Rehum, and Baanah. The number of the men of the people of Israel:

³the sons of Parosh, 2,172.

⁴The sons of Shephatiah, 372.

⁵The sons of Arah, 775.

⁶The sons of Pahath-moab, namely the sons of Jeshua and Joab, 2,812.

⁷The sons of Elam, 1,254.

⁸The sons of Zattu, 945.

⁹The sons of Zaccai, 760.

¹⁰The sons of Bani, 642.

¹¹The sons of Bebai, 623.

¹²The sons of Azgad, 1,222.

¹³The sons of Adonikam, 666.

¹⁴The sons of Bigvai, 2,056.

¹⁵The sons of Adin, 454.

¹⁶The sons of Ater, namely of Hezekiah, 98.

¹⁷The sons of Bezai, 323.

¹⁸The sons of Jorah, 112.

¹⁹The sons of Hashum, 223.

²⁰The sons of Gibbar, 95.

²¹The sons of Bethlehem, 123.

²²The men of Netophah, 56.

²³The men of Anathoth, 128.

²⁴The sons of Azmaveth, 42.

²⁵The sons of Kiriath-arim, Chephirah, and Beeroth, 743.

²⁶The sons of Ramah and Geba, 621.

²⁷The men of Michmas, 122.

²⁸The men of Bethel and Ai, 223.

²⁹The sons of Nebo, 52.

³⁰The sons of Magbish, 156.

³¹The sons of the other Elam, 1,254.

³²The sons of Harim, 320.

³³The sons of Lod, Hadid, and Ono, 725.

³⁴The sons of Jericho, 345.

³⁵The sons of Senaah, 3,630.

³⁶The priests: the sons of Jedaiah, of the house of Jeshua, 973.

³⁷The sons of Immer, 1,052.

³⁸The sons of Pashhur, 1,247.

³⁹The sons of Harim, 1,017.

⁴⁰The Levites: the sons of Jeshua and Kadmiel, of the sons of Hodaviah, 74.

⁴¹The singers: the sons of Asaph, 128.

⁴²The sons of the gatekeepers: the sons of Shallum, the sons of Ater, the sons of Talmon, the sons of Akkub, the sons of Hatita, and the sons of Shobai, in all 139.

⁴³The temple servants: the sons of Ziha, the sons of Hasupha, the sons of Tabbaoth,

⁴⁴the sons of Keros, the sons of Siaha, the sons of Padon,

⁴⁵the sons of Lebanah, the sons of Hagabah, the sons of Akkub,

⁴⁶the sons of Hagab, the sons of Shamlai, the sons of Hanan,

⁴⁷the sons of Giddel, the sons of Gahar, the sons of Reaiah,

⁴⁸the sons of Rezin, the sons of Nekoda, the sons of Gazzam,

⁴⁹the sons of Uzza, the sons of Paseah, the sons of Besai,

⁵⁰the sons of Asnah, the sons of Meunim, the sons of Nephisim,

⁵¹the sons of Bakbuk, the sons of Hakupha, the sons of Harhur,

⁵²the sons of Bazluth, the sons of Mehida, the sons of Harsha,

⁵³the sons of Barkos, the sons of Sisera, the sons of Temah,

⁵⁴the sons of Neziah, and the sons of Hatipha.

⁵⁵The sons of Solomon's servants: the sons of Sotai, the sons of Hassophereth, the sons of Peruda,

⁵⁶the sons of Jaalah, the sons of Darkon, the sons of Giddel,

⁵⁷the sons of Shephatiah, the sons of Hattil, the sons of Pochereth-hazzebaim, and the sons of Ami.

⁵⁸All the temple servants and the sons of Solomon's servants were 392.

⁵⁹The following were those who came up from Tel-melah, Tel-harsha, Cherub, Addan, and Immer, though they could not prove their fathers' houses or their descent, whether they belonged to Israel:

⁶⁰the sons of Delaiah, the sons of Tobiah, and the sons of Nekoda, 652.

⁶¹Also, of the sons of the priests: the sons of Habaiah, the sons of Hakkoz, and the sons of Barzillai (who had taken a wife from the daughters of Barzillai the Gileadite, and was called by their name).

⁶²These sought their registration among those enrolled in the genealogies, but they were not found there, and so they were excluded from the priesthood as unclean.

⁶³The governor told them that they were not to partake of the most holy food, until there should be a priest to consult Urim and Thummim.

⁶⁴The whole assembly together was 42,360,

⁶⁵besides their male and female servants, of whom there were 7,337, and they had 200 male and female singers.

⁶⁶Their horses were 736, their mules were 245,

⁶⁷their camels were 435, and their donkeys were 6,720.

⁶⁸Some of the heads of families, when they came to the house of the LORD that is in Jerusalem, made freewill offerings for the house of God, to erect it on its site.

⁶⁹According to their ability they gave to the treasury of the work 61,000 darics of gold, 5,000 minas of silver, and 100 priests' garments.

⁷⁰Now the priests, the Levites, some of the people, the singers, the gatekeepers, and the temple servants lived in their towns, and all the rest of Israel in their towns.

¹It shall come to pass in the latter days that the mountain of the house of the LORD shall be established as the highest of the mountains, and it shall be lifted up above the hills; and peoples shall flow to it,

²and many nations shall come, and say: “Come, let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, to the house of the God of Jacob, that he may teach us his ways and that we may walk in his paths.” For out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the LORD from Jerusalem.

³He shall judge between many peoples, and shall decide disputes for strong nations far away; and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks; nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war anymore;

⁴but they shall sit every man under his vine and under his fig tree, and no one shall make them afraid, for the mouth of the LORD of hosts has spoken.

⁵For all the peoples walk each in the name of its god, but we will walk in the name of the LORD our God forever and ever.

⁶In that day, declares the LORD, I will assemble the lame and gather those who have been driven away and those whom I have afflicted;

⁷and the lame I will make the remnant, and those who were cast off, a strong nation; and the LORD will reign over them in Mount Zion from this time forth and forevermore.

⁸And you, O tower of the flock, hill of the daughter of Zion, to you shall it come, the former dominion shall come, kingship for the daughter of Jerusalem.

⁹Now why do you cry aloud? Is there no king in you? Has your counselor perished, that pain seized you like a woman in labor?

¹⁰Writhe and groan, O daughter of Zion, like a woman in labor, for now you shall go out from the city and dwell in the open country; you shall go to Babylon. There you shall be rescued; there the LORD will redeem you from the hand of your enemies.

¹¹Now many nations are assembled against you, saying, “Let her be defiled, and let our eyes gaze upon Zion.”

¹²But they do not know the thoughts of the LORD; they do not understand his plan, that he has gathered them as sheaves to the threshing floor.

¹³Arise and thresh, O daughter of Zion, for I will make your horn iron, and I will make your hoofs bronze; you shall beat in pieces many peoples; and shall devote their gain to the LORD, their wealth to the Lord of the whole earth.

¹“Brothers and fathers, hear the defense that I now make before you.”

²And when they heard that he was addressing them in the Hebrew language, they became even more quiet. And he said:

³“I am a Jew, born in Tarsus in Cilicia, but brought up in this city, educated at the feet of Gamaliel according to the strict manner of the law of our fathers, being zealous for God as all of you are this day.

⁴I persecuted this Way to the death, binding and delivering to prison both men and women,

⁵as the high priest and the whole council of elders can bear me witness. From them I received letters to the brothers, and I journeyed toward Damascus to take those also who were there and bring them in bonds to Jerusalem to be punished.

⁶“As I was on my way and drew near to Damascus, about noon a great light from heaven suddenly shone around me.

⁷And I fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to me, ‘Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?’

⁸And I answered, ‘Who are you, Lord?’ And he said to me, ‘I am Jesus of Nazareth, whom you are persecuting.’

⁹Now those who were with me saw the light but did not understand the voice of the one who was speaking to me.

¹⁰And I said, ‘What shall I do, Lord?’ And the Lord said to me, ‘Rise, and go into Damascus, and there you will be told all that is appointed for you to do.’

¹¹And since I could not see because of the brightness of that light, I was led by the hand by those who were with me, and came into Damascus.

¹²“And one Ananias, a devout man according to the law, well spoken of by all the Jews who lived there,

¹³came to me, and standing by me said to me, ‘Brother Saul, receive your sight.’ And at that very hour I received my sight and saw him.

¹⁴And he said, ‘The God of our fathers appointed you to know his will, to see the Righteous One and to hear a voice from his mouth;

¹⁵for you will be a witness for him to everyone of what you have seen and heard.

¹⁶And now why do you wait? Rise and be baptized and wash away your sins, calling on his name.’

¹⁷“When I had returned to Jerusalem and was praying in the temple, I fell into a trance

¹⁸and saw him saying to me, ‘Make haste and get out of Jerusalem quickly, because they will not accept your testimony about me.’

¹⁹And I said, ‘Lord, they themselves know that in one synagogue after another I imprisoned and beat those who believed in you.

²⁰And when the blood of Stephen your witness was being shed, I myself was standing by and approving and watching over the garments of those who killed him.’

²¹And he said to me, ‘Go, for I will send you far away to the Gentiles.’”

²²Up to this word they listened to him. Then they raised their voices and said, “Away with such a fellow from the earth! For he should not be allowed to live.”

²³And as they were shouting and throwing off their cloaks and flinging dust into the air,

²⁴the tribune ordered him to be brought into the barracks, saying that he should be examined by flogging, to find out why they were shouting against him like this.

²⁵But when they had stretched him out for the whips, Paul said to the centurion who was standing by, “Is it lawful for you to flog a man who is a Roman citizen and uncondemned?”

²⁶When the centurion heard this, he went to the tribune and said to him, “What are you about to do? For this man is a Roman citizen.”

²⁷So the tribune came and said to him, “Tell me, are you a Roman citizen?” And he said, “Yes.”

²⁸The tribune answered, “I bought this citizenship for a large sum.” Paul said, “But I am a citizen by birth.”

²⁹So those who were about to examine him withdrew from him immediately, and the tribune also was afraid, for he realized that Paul was a Roman citizen and that he had bound him.

³⁰But on the next day, desiring to know the real reason why he was being accused by the Jews, he unbound him and commanded the chief priests and all the council to meet, and he brought Paul down and set him before them.