Professor Horner’s Reading Plan

¹When they had approached Jerusalem and had come to Bethphage, at the Mount of Olives, Jesus then sent two disciples,

²saying to them, “Go into the village opposite you, and immediately you will find a donkey tied there and a colt with it. Untie them and bring them to Me.

³And if anyone says anything to you, you shall say, ‘The Lord needs them,’ and he will send them on immediately.”

⁴Now this took place so that what was spoken through the prophet would be fulfilled:

⁵“SAY TO THE DAUGHTER OF ZION, ‘BEHOLD YOUR KING IS COMING TO YOU, HUMBLE, AND MOUNTED ON A DONKEY, EVEN ON A COLT, THE FOAL OF A DONKEY.’ ”

⁶The disciples went and did just as Jesus had instructed them,

⁷and brought the donkey and the colt, and laid their cloaks on them; and He sat on the cloaks.

⁸Most of the crowd spread their cloaks on the road, and others were cutting branches from the trees and spreading them on the road.

⁹Now the crowds going ahead of Him, and those who followed, were shouting, “Hosanna to the Son of David; BLESSED IS THE ONE WHO COMES IN THE NAME OF THE LORD; Hosanna in the highest!”

¹⁰When He had entered Jerusalem, all the city was stirred, saying, “Who is this?”

¹¹And the crowds were saying, “This is Jesus the prophet, from Nazareth in Galilee.”

¹²And Jesus entered the temple area and drove out all those who were selling and buying on the temple grounds, and He overturned the tables of the money changers and the seats of those who were selling doves.

¹³And He *said to them, “It is written: ‘MY HOUSE WILL BE CALLED A HOUSE OF PRAYER’; but you are making it a DEN OF ROBBERS.”

¹⁴And those who were blind and those who limped came to Him in the temple area, and He healed them.

¹⁵But when the chief priests and the scribes saw the wonderful things that He had done, and the children who were shouting in the temple area, “Hosanna to the Son of David,” they became indignant,

¹⁶and they said to Him, “Do You hear what these children are saying?” And Jesus *said to them, “Yes. Have you never read, ‘FROM THE MOUTHS OF INFANTS AND NURSING BABIES YOU HAVE PREPARED PRAISE FOR YOURSELF’?”

¹⁷And He left them and went out of the city to Bethany, and spent the night there.

¹⁸Now in the early morning, when He was returning to the city, He became hungry.

¹⁹And seeing a lone fig tree by the road, He came to it and found nothing on it except leaves alone; and He *said to it, “No longer shall there ever be any fruit from you.” And at once the fig tree withered.

²⁰Seeing this, the disciples were amazed and asked, “How did the fig tree wither all at once?”

²¹And Jesus answered and said to them, “Truly I say to you, if you have faith and do not doubt, you will not only do what was done to the fig tree, but even if you say to this mountain, ‘Be taken up and cast into the sea,’ it will happen.

²²And whatever you ask in prayer, believing, you will receive it all.”

²³When He entered the temple area, the chief priests and the elders of the people came to Him while He was teaching, and said, “By what authority are You doing these things, and who gave You this authority?”

²⁴But Jesus responded and said to them, “I will also ask you onequestion, which, if you tell Me, I will also tell you by what authority I do these things.

²⁵The baptism of John was from what source: from heaven or from men?” And they began considering the implications among themselves, saying, “If we say, ‘From heaven,’ He will say to us, ‘Then why did you not believe him?’

²⁶But if we say, ‘From men,’ we fear the people; for they all regard John as a prophet.”

²⁷And answering Jesus, they said, “We do not know.” He also said to them, “Neither am I telling you by what authority I do these things.

²⁸“But what do you think? A man had two sons, and he came to the first and said, ‘ Son, go work today in the vineyard.’

²⁹But he replied, ‘I do not want to.’ Yet afterward he regretted it and went.

³⁰And the man came to his second son and said the same thing; and he replied, ‘I will, sir’; and yet he did not go.

³¹Which of the two did the will of his father?” They *said, “The first.” Jesus *said to them, “Truly I say to you that the tax collectors and prostituteswill get into the kingdom of God before you.

³²For John came to you in the way of righteousness and you did not believe him; but the tax collectors and prostitutes did believe him; and you, seeing this, did not evenhave second thoughts afterward so as to believe him.

³³“Listen to another parable. There was a landowner who PLANTED A VINEYARD AND PUT A FENCE AROUND IT, AND DUG A WINE PRESS IN IT, AND BUILT A TOWER, and he leased it to vine-growers and went on a journey.

³⁴And when theharvest time approached, he sent his slaves to the vine-growers to receive his fruit.

³⁵And the vine-growers took his slaves and beat one, killed another, and stoned another.

³⁶Again, he sent other slaves, more than the first; and they did the same things to them.

³⁷But afterward he sent his son to them, saying, ‘They will respect my son.’

³⁸But when the vine-growers saw the son, they said among themselves, ‘This is the heir; come, let’s kill him and take possession of his inheritance!’

³⁹And they took him and threw him out of the vineyard, and killed him.

⁴⁰Therefore, when theowner of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those vine-growers?”

⁴¹They *said to Him, “He will bring those wretches to a wretched end and lease the vineyard to other vine-growers, who will pay him the fruit in the proper seasons.”

⁴²Jesus *said to them, “Did you never read in the Scriptures, ‘A STONE WHICH THE BUILDERS REJECTED, THIS HAS BECOME THE CHIEF CORNERSTONE; THIS CAME ABOUT FROM THE LORD, AND IT IS MARVELOUS IN OUR EYES’?

⁴³Therefore I say to you, the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people producing its fruit.

⁴⁴And the one who falls on this stone will be broken to pieces; and on whomever it falls, it will crush him.”

⁴⁵When the chief priests and the Pharisees heard His parables, they understood that He was speaking about them.

⁴⁶And although they sought to arrest Him, they feared the crowds, since they considered Him to be a prophet.

¹Then the LORD took note of Sarah as He had said, and the LORD did for Sarah as He had promised.

²So Sarah conceived and bore a son to Abraham in his old age, at the appointed time of which God had spoken to him.

³Abraham named his son who was born to him, the son whom Sarah bore to him, Isaac.

⁴Then Abraham circumcised his son Isaac when he was eight days old, as God had commanded him.

⁵Now Abraham was a hundred years old when his son Isaac was born to him.

⁶Sarah said, “God has made laughter for me; everyone who hears will laugh with me.”

⁷And she said, “Who would have said to Abraham that Sarah would nurse children? Yet I have given birth to a son in his old age.”

⁸And the child grew and was weaned, and Abraham held a great feast on the day that Isaac was weaned.

⁹Now Sarah saw the son of Hagar the Egyptian, whom she had borne to Abraham, mocking Isaac.

¹⁰Therefore she said to Abraham, “Drive out this slave woman and her son, for the son of this slave woman shall not be an heir with my son Isaac!”

¹¹The matter distressed Abraham greatly because of his son Ishmael.

¹²But God said to Abraham, “Do not be distressed because of the boy and your slave woman; whatever Sarah tells you, listen to her, for through Isaac your descendants shall be named.

¹³And of the son of the slave woman I will make a nation also, because he is your descendant.”

¹⁴So Abraham got up early in the morning and took bread and a skin of water, and gave them to Hagar, putting them on her shoulder, and gave her the boy, and sent her away. And she departed and wandered about in the wilderness of Beersheba.

¹⁵When the water in the skin was used up, she left the boy under one of the bushes.

¹⁶Then she went and sat down opposite him, about a bowshot away, for she said, “May I not see the boy die!” And she sat opposite him, and raised her voice and wept.

¹⁷God heard the boy crying; and the angel of God called to Hagar from heaven and said to her, “What is the matter with you, Hagar? Do not fear, for God has heard the voice of the boy where he is.

¹⁸Get up, lift up the boy, and hold him by the hand, for I will make a great nation of him.”

¹⁹Then God opened her eyes, and she saw a well of water; and she went and filled the skin with water and gave the boy a drink.

²⁰And God was with the boy, and he grew; and he lived in the wilderness and became an archer.

²¹He lived in the wilderness of Paran, and his mother took a wife for him from the land of Egypt.

²²Now it came about at that time that Abimelech and Phicol, the commander of his army, spoke to Abraham, saying, “God is with you in all that you do;

²³so now, swear to me here by God that you will not deal falsely with me or with my offspring or with my descendants, but according to the kindness that I have shown to you, you shall show to me and to the land in which you have resided.”

²⁴Abraham said, “I swear it.”

²⁵But Abraham complained to Abimelech because of the well of water which the servants of Abimelech had seized.

²⁶And Abimelech said, “I do not know who has done this thing; you did not tell me, nor did I hear of it until today.”

²⁷So Abraham took sheep and oxen and gave them to Abimelech, and the two of them made a covenant.

²⁸But Abraham set seven ewe lambs of the flock by themselves.

²⁹Then Abimelech said to Abraham, “What do these seven ewe lambs mean, which you have set by themselves?”

³⁰He said, “You shall take these seven ewe lambs from my hand so that it may be a witness for me, that I dug this well.”

³¹Therefore he called that place Beersheba, because there the two of them took an oath.

³²So they made a covenant at Beersheba; and Abimelech and Phicol, the commander of his army, got up and returned to the land of the Philistines.

³³Abraham planted a tamarisk tree at Beersheba, and there he called on the name of the LORD, the Everlasting God.

³⁴And Abraham resided in the land of the Philistines for many days.

¹It is actually reported that there is sexual immorality among you, and sexual immorality of such a kind as does not exist even among the Gentiles, namely, that someone has his father’s wife.

²You have become arrogant and have not mourned instead, so that the one who had done this deed would be removed from your midst.

³For I, on my part, though absent in body but present in spirit, have already judged him who has so committed this, as though I were present.

⁴In the name of our Lord Jesus, when you are assembled, and I with you in spirit, with the power of our Lord Jesus,

⁵I have decided to turn such a person over to Satan for the destruction of his body, so that his spirit may be saved on the day of the Lord.

⁶Your boasting is not good. Do you not know that a little leaven leavens the whole lump of dough?

⁷Clean out the old leaven so that you may be a new lump, just as you are in fact unleavened. For Christ our Passover also has been sacrificed.

⁸Therefore let’s celebrate the feast, not with old leaven, nor with the leaven of malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.

⁹I wrote to you in my letter not to associate with sexually immoral people;

¹⁰I did not at all mean with the sexually immoral people of this world, or with the greedy and swindlers, or with idolaters, for then you would have to leave the world.

¹¹But actually, I wrote to you not to associate with any so-called brother if he is a sexually immoral person, or a greedy person, or an idolater, or is verbally abusive, or habitually drunk, or a swindler—not even to eat with such a person.

¹²For what business of mine is it to judge outsiders? Do you not judge those who are within the church?

¹³But those who are outside, God judges. REMOVE THE EVIL PERSON FROM AMONG YOURSELVES.

¹Remind them to be subject to rulers, to authorities, to be obedient, to be ready for every good deed,

²to slander no one, not to be contentious, to be gentle, showing every consideration for all people.

³For we too were once foolish, disobedient, deceived, enslaved to various lusts and pleasures, spending our life in malice and envy, hateful, hating one another.

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

⁵He saved us, not on the basis of deeds which we did in righteousness, but in accordance with His mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewing by the Holy Spirit,

⁶whom He richly poured out upon us through Jesus Christ our Savior,

⁷so that being justified by His grace we would be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life.

⁸This statement is trustworthy; and concerning these things I want you to speak confidently, so that those who have believed God will be careful to engage in good deeds. These things are good and beneficial for people.

⁹But avoid foolish controversies and genealogies and strife and disputes about the Law, for they are useless and worthless.

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

¹¹knowing that such a person has deviated from what is right and is sinning, being self-condemned.

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

¹³Diligently help Zenas the lawyer and Apollos on their way so that nothing is lacking for them.

¹⁴Our people must also learn to engage in good deeds to meet pressing needs, so that they will not be unproductive.

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

¹Then Job responded,

²“Listen carefully to my speech, And let this be your way of consolation.

³Bear with me that I may speak; Then after I have spoken, you may mock me.

⁴As for me, is my complaint to a mortal? Or why should I not be impatient?

⁵Look at me, and be astonished, And put your hand over your mouth.

⁶Even when I remember, I am disturbed, And horror takes hold of my flesh.

⁷Why do the wicked still live, Grow old, and also become very powerful?

⁸Their descendants endure with them in their sight, And their offspring before their eyes,

⁹Their houses are safe from fear, And the rod of God is not on them.

¹⁰His ox mates without fail; His cow calves and does not miscarry.

¹¹They send out their boys like the flock, And their children dance.

¹²They sing with the tambourine and harp, And rejoice at the sound of the flute.

¹³They spend their days in prosperity, And suddenly they go down to Sheol.

¹⁴Yet they say to God, ‘Go away from us! We do not even desire the knowledge of Your ways.

¹⁵Who is the Almighty, that we should serve Him, And what would we gain if we plead with Him?’

¹⁶Behold, their prosperity is not in their hand; The advice of the wicked is far from me.

¹⁷“How often is the lamp of the wicked put out, Or does their disaster fall on them? Does God apportion destruction in His anger?

¹⁸Are they as straw before the wind, And like chaff which the storm carries away?

¹⁹You say, ‘God saves up a person’s wrongdoing for his sons.’ Let God repay him so that he may know it.

²⁰Let his own eyes see his destruction, And let him drink of the wrath of the Almighty.

²¹For what does he care about his household after him, When the number of his months is at an end?

²²Can anyone teach God knowledge, In that He judges those on high?

²³One dies in his full strength, Being wholly undisturbed and at ease;

²⁴His sides are filled with fat, And the marrow of his bones is wet,

²⁵While another dies with a bitter soul, Never even tasting anything good.

²⁶Together they lie down in the dust, And maggots cover them.

²⁷“Behold, I know your thoughts, And the plots you devise against me.

²⁸For you say, ‘Where is the house of the nobleman, And where is the tent, the dwelling places of the wicked?’

²⁹Have you not asked travelers, And do you not examine their evidence?

³⁰For the wicked person is spared a day of disaster; They are led away from a day of fury.

³¹Who confronts him with his actions, And who repays him for what he has done?

³²When he is carried to the grave, People will keep watch over his tomb.

³³The clods of the valley will gently cover him; Moreover, all mankind will follow after him, While countless others go before him.

³⁴So how dare you give me empty comfort? For your answers remain nothing but falsehood!”

¹LORD, in Your strength the king will be glad, And in Your salvation how greatly he will rejoice!

²You have given him his heart’s desire, And You have not withheld the request of his lips. Selah

³For You meet him with the blessings of good things; You set a crown of pure gold on his head.

⁴He asked for life from You, You gave it to him, Length of days forever and ever.

⁵His glory is great through Your salvation, Splendor and majesty You place upon him.

⁶For You make him most blessed forever; You make him joyful with the joy of Your presence.

⁷For the king trusts in the LORD, And through the faithfulness of the Most High he will not be shaken.

⁸Your hand will find all your enemies; Your right hand will find those who hate you.

⁹You will make them as a fiery oven in the time of your anger; The LORD will swallow them up in His wrath, And fire will devour them.

¹⁰You will eliminate their descendants from the earth, And their children from among the sons of mankind.

¹¹Though they intended evil against You And devised a plot, They will not succeed.

¹²For You will make them turn their back; You will take aim at their faces with Your bowstrings.

¹³Be exalted, LORD, in Your strength; We will sing and praise Your power.

¹The king’s heart is like channels of water in the hand of the LORD; He turns it wherever He pleases.

²Every person’s way is right in his own eyes, But the LORD examines the hearts.

³To do righteousness and justice Is preferred by the LORD more than sacrifice.

⁴Haughty eyes and a proud heart, The lamp of the wicked, is sin.

⁵The plans of the diligent certainly lead to advantage, But everyone who is in a hurry certainly comes to poverty.

⁶The acquisition of treasures by a lying tongue Is a fleeting vapor, the pursuit of death.

⁷The violence of the wicked will sweep them away, Because they refuse to act with justice.

⁸The way of a guilty person is crooked, But as for the pure, his conduct is upright.

⁹It is better to live on a corner of a roof Than in a house shared with a contentious woman.

¹⁰The soul of the wicked desires evil; His neighbor is shown no compassion in his eyes.

¹¹When the scoffer is punished, the naive becomes wise; But when the wise is instructed, he receives knowledge.

¹²The righteous one considers the house of the wicked, Bringing the wicked to ruin.

¹³One who shuts his ear to the outcry of the poor Will also call out himself, and not be answered.

¹⁴A gift in secret subdues anger, And a bribe in an inside pocket, strong wrath.

¹⁵The exercise of justice is joy for the righteous, But terror to those who practice injustice.

¹⁶A person who wanders from the way of understanding Will rest in the assembly of the dead.

¹⁷One who loves pleasure will become a poor person; One who loves wine and oil will not become rich.

¹⁸The wicked is a ransom for the righteous, And the treacherous is in the place of the upright.

¹⁹It is better to live in a desert land Than with a contentious and irritating woman.

²⁰There is precious treasure and oil in the home of the wise, But a foolish person swallows it up.

²¹One who pursues righteousness and loyalty Finds life, righteousness, and honor.

²²A wise person scales the city of the mighty And brings down the stronghold in which they trust.

²³One who guards his mouth and his tongue, Guards his soul from troubles.

²⁴“Proud,” “Arrogant,” “Scoffer,” are his names, One who acts with insolent pride.

²⁵The desire of the lazy one puts him to death, For his hands refuse to work;

²⁶All day long he is craving, While the righteous gives and does not hold back.

²⁷The sacrifice of the wicked is an abomination, How much more when he brings it with evil intent!

²⁸A false witness will perish, But a person who listens will speak forever.

²⁹A wicked person displays a bold face, But as for the upright, he makes his way sure.

³⁰There is no wisdom, no understanding, And no plan against the LORD.

³¹The horse is prepared for the day of battle, But the victory belongs to the LORD.

¹Then the heads of fathers’ households of the Levites approached Eleazar the priest, Joshua the son of Nun, and the heads of fathers’ households of the tribes of the sons of Israel.

²And they spoke to them at Shiloh in the land of Canaan, saying, “The LORD commanded through Moses to give us cities to live in, with their pasture lands for our cattle.”

³So the sons of Israel gave the Levites from their inheritance these cities with their pasture lands, in accordance with the command of the LORD.

⁴Then the lot came out for the families of the Kohathites. And to the sons of Aaron the priest, who were of the Levites, thirteen cities were given by lot from the tribe of Judah, from the tribe of the Simeonites, and from the tribe of Benjamin.

⁵And to the rest of the sons of Kohath ten cities were given by lot from the families of the tribe of Ephraim, from the tribe of Dan, and from the half-tribe of Manasseh.

⁶And to the sons of Gershon thirteen cities were given by lot from the families of the tribe of Issachar, from the tribe of Asher, from the tribe of Naphtali, and from the half-tribe of Manasseh in Bashan.

⁷To the sons of Merari according to their families twelve cities were given from the tribe of Reuben, from the tribe of Gad, and from the tribe of Zebulun.

⁸Now the sons of Israel gave by lot to the Levites these cities with their pasture lands, as the LORD had commanded through Moses.

⁹They gave these cities which are mentioned here by name from the tribe of the sons of Judah and from the tribe of the sons of Simeon;

¹⁰and they were for the sons of Aaron, one of the families of the Kohathites, of the sons of Levi, because the lot was theirs first.

¹¹So they gave them Kiriath-arba (Arba being the father of Anak), that is, Hebron, in the hill country of Judah, with its surrounding pasture lands.

¹²But the fields of the city and its villages they gave to Caleb the son of Jephunneh as his possession.

¹³So to the sons of Aaron the priest they gave Hebron, the city of refuge for the one who commits manslaughter, with its pasture lands, Libnah with its pasture lands,

¹⁴Jattir with its pasture lands, Eshtemoa with its pasture lands,

¹⁵Holon with its pasture lands, Debir with its pasture lands,

¹⁶Ain with its pasture lands, Juttah with its pasture lands, and Beth-shemesh with its pasture lands; nine cities from these two tribes.

¹⁷From the tribe of Benjamin, Gibeon with its pasture lands, Geba with its pasture lands,

¹⁸Anathoth with its pasture lands, and Almon with its pasture lands; four cities.

¹⁹All the cities of the sons of Aaron, the priests, were thirteen cities with their pasture lands.

²⁰Then the cities from the tribe of Ephraim were allotted to the families of the sons of Kohath, the Levites, that is, to the rest of the sons of Kohath.

²¹They gave them Shechem, the city of refuge for the one who commits manslaughter, with its pasture lands, in the hill country of Ephraim, and Gezer with its pasture lands,

²²and Kibzaim with its pasture lands, and Beth-horon with its pasture lands; four cities.

²³And from the tribe of Dan, Elteke with its pasture lands, Gibbethon with its pasture lands,

²⁴Aijalon with its pasture lands, Gath-rimmon with its pasture lands; four cities.

²⁵From the half-tribe of Manasseh, they allotted Taanach with its pasture lands and Gath-rimmon with its pasture lands; two cities.

²⁶All the cities with their pasture lands for the families of the rest of the sons of Kohath were ten.

²⁷And to the sons of Gershon, one of the families of the Levites, from the half-tribe of Manasseh, they gave Golan in Bashan, the city of refuge for the one who commits manslaughter, with its pasture lands, and Be-eshterah with its pasture lands; two cities.

²⁸And from the tribe of Issachar they gave Kishion with its pasture lands, Daberath with its pasture lands,

²⁹Jarmuth with its pasture lands, and En-gannim with its pasture lands; four cities.

³⁰From the tribe of Asher, they gave Mishal with its pasture lands, Abdon with its pasture lands,

³¹Helkath with its pasture lands, and Rehob with its pasture lands; four cities.

³²And from the tribe of Naphtali, they gave Kedesh in Galilee, the city of refuge for the one who commits manslaughter, with its pasture lands, Hammoth-dor with its pasture lands, and Kartan with its pasture lands; three cities.

³³All the cities of the Gershonites according to their families were thirteen cities with their pasture lands.

³⁴And to the families of the sons of Merari, the rest of the Levites, they gave from the tribe of Zebulun, Jokneam with its pasture lands, Kartah with its pasture lands,

³⁵Dimnah with its pasture lands, and Nahalal with its pasture lands; four cities.

³⁶From the tribe of Reuben they gave Bezer with its pasture lands, Jahaz with its pasture lands,

³⁷Kedemoth with its pasture lands, and Mephaath with its pasture lands; four cities.

³⁸And from the tribe of Gad, they gave Ramoth in Gilead, the city of refuge for the one who commits manslaughter, with its pasture lands, Mahanaim with its pasture lands,

³⁹Heshbon with its pasture lands, and Jazer with its pasture lands; four cities in all.

⁴⁰All these were the cities of the sons of Merari according to their families, the rest of the families of the Levites; and their lot was twelve cities.

⁴¹All the cities of the Levites in the midst of the possession of the sons of Israel were forty-eight cities with their pasture lands.

⁴²These cities individually had their surrounding pasture lands; this is how it was with all these cities.

⁴³So the LORD gave Israel all the land which He had sworn to give to their fathers, and they took possession of it and lived in it.

⁴⁴And the LORD gave them rest on every side, in accordance with everything that He had sworn to their fathers, and no one of all their enemies stood before them; the LORD handed all their enemies over to them.

⁴⁵Not one of the good promises which the LORD had made to the house of Israel failed; everything came to pass.

¹The pronouncement concerning the wilderness of the sea: As windstorms in the Negev come in turns, It comes from the wilderness, from a terrifying land.

²A harsh vision has been shown to me; The treacherous one still deals treacherously, and the destroyer still destroys. Go up, Elam, lay siege, Media; I have put an end to all the groaning she has caused.

³For this reason my loins are full of anguish; Pains have seized me like the pains of a woman in labor. I am so bewildered I cannot hear, so terrified I cannot see.

⁴My mind reels, horror overwhelms me; The twilight I longed for has been turned into trembling for me.

⁵They set the table, they spread out the cloth, they eat, they drink; “Rise up, captains, oil the shields!”

⁶For this is what the Lord says to me: “Go, station the lookout, have him report what he sees.

⁷When he sees a column of chariots, horsemen in pairs, A train of donkeys, a train of camels, He is to pay close attention, very close attention.”

⁸Then the lookout called, “Lord, I stand continually by day on the watchtower, And I am stationed every night at my guard post.

⁹Now behold, here comes a troop of riders, horsemen in pairs.” And one said, “Fallen, fallen is Babylon; And all the images of her gods are shattered on the ground.”

¹⁰My downtrodden people, and my afflicted of the threshing floor! What I have heard from the LORD of armies, The God of Israel, I make known to you.

¹¹The pronouncement concerning Edom: One keeps calling to me from Seir, “Watchman, how far gone is the night? Watchman, how far gone is the night?”

¹²The watchman says, “Morning comes but also night. If you would inquire, inquire; Come back again.”

¹³The pronouncement about Arabia: In the thickets of Arabia you must spend the night, You caravans of Dedanites.

¹⁴Bring water for the thirsty, You inhabitants of the land of Tema; Meet the fugitive with bread.

¹⁵For they have fled from the swords, From the drawn sword, and from the bent bow, And from the press of battle.

¹⁶For this is what the Lord said to me: “In a year, as a hired worker would count it, all the splendor of Kedar will come to an end;

¹⁷and the remainder of the number of bowmen, the warriors of the sons of Kedar, will be few; for the LORD God of Israel has spoken.”

¹Now when we had parted from them and had set sail, we ran a straight course to Cos, and on the next day to Rhodes, and from there to Patara;

²and having found a ship crossing over to Phoenicia, we went aboard and set sail.

³When we came in sight of Cyprus, leaving it on the left, we kept sailing to Syria and landed at Tyre; for the ship was to unload its cargo there.

⁴After looking up the disciples, we stayed there for seven days; and they kept telling Paul, through the Spirit, not to set foot in Jerusalem.

⁵When our days there were ended, we left and started on our journey, while they all, with wives and children, escorted us until we were out of the city. After kneeling down on the beach and praying, we said farewell to one another.

⁶Then we boarded the ship, and they returned home.

⁷When we had finished the voyage from Tyre, we arrived at Ptolemais, and after greeting the brothers and sisters, we stayed with them for a day.

⁸On the next day we left and came to Caesarea, and we entered the house of Philip the evangelist, who was one of the seven, and stayed with him.

⁹Now this man had four virgin daughters who were prophetesses.

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

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

¹²When we had heard this, we as well as the local residents began begging him not to go up to Jerusalem.

¹³Then Paul replied, “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.”

¹⁴And since he would not be persuaded, we became quiet, remarking, “The will of the Lord be done!”

¹⁵After these days we got ready and started on our way up to Jerusalem.

¹⁶Some of the disciples from Caesarea also came with us, taking us to Mnason of Cyprus, a disciple of long standing with whom we were to stay.

¹⁷After we arrived in Jerusalem, the brothers and sisters received us gladly.

¹⁸And the following day Paul went in with us to James, and all the elders were present.

¹⁹After he had greeted them, he began to relate one by one the things which God had done among the Gentiles through his ministry.

²⁰And when they heard about them, they began glorifying God; and they said to him, “You see, brother, how many thousands there are among the Jews of those who have believed, and they are all zealous for the Law;

²¹and they have been told about you, that you are teaching all the Jews who are among the Gentiles to abandon Moses, telling them not to circumcise their children nor to walk according to the customs.

²²So what is to be done? They will certainly hear that you have come.

²³Therefore, do as we tell you: we have four men who have a vow upon themselves;

²⁴take them along and purify yourself together with them, and pay their expenses so that they may shave their heads; and then everyone will know that there is nothing to what they have been told about you, but that you yourself also conform, keeping the Law.

²⁵But regarding the Gentiles who have believed, we sent a letter, having decided that they should abstain from meat sacrificed to idols and from blood and what is strangled, and from sexual immorality.”

²⁶Then Paul took along the men, and the next day, after purifying himself together with them, he went into the temple giving notice of the completion of the days of purification, until the sacrifice was offered for each one of them.

²⁷When the seven days were almost over, the Jews from Asia, upon seeing him in the temple, began to stir up all the crowd and laid hands on him,

²⁸crying out, “Men of Israel, help! This is the man who instructs everyone everywhere against our people and the Law and this place; and besides, he has even brought Greeks into the temple and has defiled this holy place!”

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

³⁰Then the whole city was provoked and the people rushed together, and taking hold of Paul they dragged him out of the temple, and immediately the doors were shut.

³¹While they were intent on killing him, a report came up to the commander of the Roman cohort that all Jerusalem was in confusion.

³²He immediately took along some soldiers and centurions and ran down to the crowd; and when they saw the commander and the soldiers, they stopped beating Paul.

³³Then the commander came up and took hold of him, and ordered that he be bound with two chains; and he began asking who he was and what he had done.

³⁴But among the crowd, some were shouting one thing and some another, and when he could not find out the facts because of the uproar, he ordered that Paul be brought into the barracks.

³⁵When Paul got to the stairs, it came about that he was carried by the soldiers because of the violence of the mob;

³⁶for the multitude of people kept following them, shouting, “Away with him!”

³⁷As Paul was about to be brought into the barracks, he *said to the commander, “May I say something to you?” And he said, “Do you know Greek?

³⁸Then you are not the Egyptian who some time ago stirred up a revolt and led the four thousand men of the Assassins out into the wilderness?”

³⁹But Paul said, “I am a Jew of Tarsus in Cilicia, a citizen of no insignificant city; and I beg you, allow me to speak to the people.”

⁴⁰When he had given him permission, Paul, standing on the stairs, motioned to the people with his hand; and when there was a great silence, he spoke to them in the Hebrew dialect, saying,