Professor Horner’s Reading Plan

¹Inasmuch as many have undertaken to compile a narrative of the things that have been accomplished among us,

²just as those who from the beginning were eyewitnesses and ministers of the word have delivered them to us,

³it seemed good to me also, having followed all things closely for some time past, to write an orderly account for you, most excellent Theophilus,

⁴that you may have certainty concerning the things you have been taught.

⁵In the days of Herod, king of Judea, there was a priest named Zechariah, of the division of Abijah. And he had a wife from the daughters of Aaron, and her name was Elizabeth.

⁶And they were both righteous before God, walking blamelessly in all the commandments and statutes of the Lord.

⁷But they had no child, because Elizabeth was barren, and both were advanced in years.

⁸Now while he was serving as priest before God when his division was on duty,

⁹according to the custom of the priesthood, he was chosen by lot to enter the temple of the Lord and burn incense.

¹⁰And the whole multitude of the people were praying outside at the hour of incense.

¹¹And there appeared to him an angel of the Lord standing on the right side of the altar of incense.

¹²And Zechariah was troubled when he saw him, and fear fell upon him.

¹³But the angel said to him, “Do not be afraid, Zechariah, for your prayer has been heard, and your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you shall call his name John.

¹⁴And you will have joy and gladness, and many will rejoice at his birth,

¹⁵for he will be great before the Lord. And he must not drink wine or strong drink, and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit, even from his mother's womb.

¹⁶And he will turn many of the children of Israel to the Lord their God,

¹⁷and he will go before him in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just, to make ready for the Lord a people prepared.”

¹⁸And Zechariah said to the angel, “How shall I know this? For I am an old man, and my wife is advanced in years.”

¹⁹And the angel answered him, “I am Gabriel. I stand in the presence of God, and I was sent to speak to you and to bring you this good news.

²⁰And behold, you will be silent and unable to speak until the day that these things take place, because you did not believe my words, which will be fulfilled in their time.”

²¹And the people were waiting for Zechariah, and they were wondering at his delay in the temple.

²²And when he came out, he was unable to speak to them, and they realized that he had seen a vision in the temple. And he kept making signs to them and remained mute.

²³And when his time of service was ended, he went to his home.

²⁴After these days his wife Elizabeth conceived, and for five months she kept herself hidden, saying,

²⁵“Thus the Lord has done for me in the days when he looked on me, to take away my reproach among people.”

²⁶In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth,

²⁷to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. And the virgin's name was Mary.

²⁸And he came to her and said, “Greetings, O favored one, the Lord is with you!”

²⁹But she was greatly troubled at the saying, and tried to discern what sort of greeting this might be.

³⁰And the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God.

³¹And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus.

³²He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. And the Lord God will give to him the throne of his father David,

³³and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.”

³⁴And Mary said to the angel, “How will this be, since I am a virgin?”

³⁵And the angel answered her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be called holy — the Son of God.

³⁶And behold, your relative Elizabeth in her old age has also conceived a son, and this is the sixth month with her who was called barren.

³⁷For nothing will be impossible with God.”

³⁸And Mary said, “Behold, I am the servant of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word.” And the angel departed from her.

³⁹In those days Mary arose and went with haste into the hill country, to a town in Judah,

⁴⁰and she entered the house of Zechariah and greeted Elizabeth.

⁴¹And when Elizabeth heard the greeting of Mary, the baby leaped in her womb. And Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit,

⁴²and she exclaimed with a loud cry, “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb!

⁴³And why is this granted to me that the mother of my Lord should come to me?

⁴⁴For behold, when the sound of your greeting came to my ears, the baby in my womb leaped for joy.

⁴⁵And blessed is she who believed that there would be a fulfillment of what was spoken to her from the Lord.”

⁴⁶And Mary said, “My soul magnifies the Lord,

⁴⁷and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior,

⁴⁸for he has looked on the humble estate of his servant. For behold, from now on all generations will call me blessed;

⁴⁹for he who is mighty has done great things for me, and holy is his name.

⁵⁰And his mercy is for those who fear him from generation to generation.

⁵¹He has shown strength with his arm; he has scattered the proud in the thoughts of their hearts;

⁵²he has brought down the mighty from their thrones and exalted those of humble estate;

⁵³he has filled the hungry with good things, and the rich he has sent away empty.

⁵⁴He has helped his servant Israel, in remembrance of his mercy,

⁵⁵as he spoke to our fathers, to Abraham and to his offspring forever.”

⁵⁶And Mary remained with her about three months and returned to her home.

⁵⁷Now the time came for Elizabeth to give birth, and she bore a son.

⁵⁸And her neighbors and relatives heard that the Lord had shown great mercy to her, and they rejoiced with her.

⁵⁹And on the eighth day they came to circumcise the child. And they would have called him Zechariah after his father,

⁶⁰but his mother answered, “No; he shall be called John.”

⁶¹And they said to her, “None of your relatives is called by this name.”

⁶²And they made signs to his father, inquiring what he wanted him to be called.

⁶³And he asked for a writing tablet and wrote, “His name is John.” And they all wondered.

⁶⁴And immediately his mouth was opened and his tongue loosed, and he spoke, blessing God.

⁶⁵And fear came on all their neighbors. And all these things were talked about through all the hill country of Judea,

⁶⁶and all who heard them laid them up in their hearts, saying, “What then will this child be?” For the hand of the Lord was with him.

⁶⁷And his father Zechariah was filled with the Holy Spirit and prophesied, saying,

⁶⁸“Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, for he has visited and redeemed his people

⁶⁹and has raised up a horn of salvation for us in the house of his servant David,

⁷⁰as he spoke by the mouth of his holy prophets from of old,

⁷¹that we should be saved from our enemies and from the hand of all who hate us;

⁷²to show the mercy promised to our fathers and to remember his holy covenant,

⁷³the oath that he swore to our father Abraham, to grant us

⁷⁴that we, being delivered from the hand of our enemies, might serve him without fear,

⁷⁵in holiness and righteousness before him all our days.

⁷⁶And you, child, will be called the prophet of the Most High; for you will go before the Lord to prepare his ways,

⁷⁷to give knowledge of salvation to his people in the forgiveness of their sins,

⁷⁸because of the tender mercy of our God, whereby the sunrise shall visit us from on high

⁷⁹to give light to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace.”

⁸⁰And the child grew and became strong in spirit, and he was in the wilderness until the day of his public appearance to Israel.

¹These are the generations of Esau (that is, Edom).

²Esau took his wives from the Canaanites: Adah the daughter of Elon the Hittite, Oholibamah the daughter of Anah the daughter of Zibeon the Hivite,

³and Basemath, Ishmael's daughter, the sister of Nebaioth.

⁴And Adah bore to Esau, Eliphaz; Basemath bore Reuel;

⁵and Oholibamah bore Jeush, Jalam, and Korah. These are the sons of Esau who were born to him in the land of Canaan.

⁶Then Esau took his wives, his sons, his daughters, and all the members of his household, his livestock, all his beasts, and all his property that he had acquired in the land of Canaan. He went into a land away from his brother Jacob.

⁷For their possessions were too great for them to dwell together. The land of their sojournings could not support them because of their livestock.

⁸So Esau settled in the hill country of Seir. (Esau is Edom.)

⁹These are the generations of Esau the father of the Edomites in the hill country of Seir.

¹⁰These are the names of Esau's sons: Eliphaz the son of Adah the wife of Esau, Reuel the son of Basemath the wife of Esau.

¹¹The sons of Eliphaz were Teman, Omar, Zepho, Gatam, and Kenaz.

¹²(Timna was a concubine of Eliphaz, Esau's son; she bore Amalek to Eliphaz.) These are the sons of Adah, Esau's wife.

¹³These are the sons of Reuel: Nahath, Zerah, Shammah, and Mizzah. These are the sons of Basemath, Esau's wife.

¹⁴These are the sons of Oholibamah the daughter of Anah the daughter of Zibeon, Esau's wife: she bore to Esau Jeush, Jalam, and Korah.

¹⁵These are the chiefs of the sons of Esau. The sons of Eliphaz the firstborn of Esau: the chiefs Teman, Omar, Zepho, Kenaz,

¹⁶Korah, Gatam, and Amalek; these are the chiefs of Eliphaz in the land of Edom; these are the sons of Adah.

¹⁷These are the sons of Reuel, Esau's son: the chiefs Nahath, Zerah, Shammah, and Mizzah; these are the chiefs of Reuel in the land of Edom; these are the sons of Basemath, Esau's wife.

¹⁸These are the sons of Oholibamah, Esau's wife: the chiefs Jeush, Jalam, and Korah; these are the chiefs born of Oholibamah the daughter of Anah, Esau's wife.

¹⁹These are the sons of Esau (that is, Edom), and these are their chiefs.

²⁰These are the sons of Seir the Horite, the inhabitants of the land: Lotan, Shobal, Zibeon, Anah,

²¹Dishon, Ezer, and Dishan; these are the chiefs of the Horites, the sons of Seir in the land of Edom.

²²The sons of Lotan were Hori and Hemam; and Lotan's sister was Timna.

²³These are the sons of Shobal: Alvan, Manahath, Ebal, Shepho, and Onam.

²⁴These are the sons of Zibeon: Aiah and Anah; he is the Anah who found the hot springs in the wilderness, as he pastured the donkeys of Zibeon his father.

²⁵These are the children of Anah: Dishon and Oholibamah the daughter of Anah.

²⁶These are the sons of Dishon: Hemdan, Eshban, Ithran, and Cheran.

²⁷These are the sons of Ezer: Bilhan, Zaavan, and Akan.

²⁸These are the sons of Dishan: Uz and Aran.

²⁹These are the chiefs of the Horites: the chiefs Lotan, Shobal, Zibeon, Anah,

³⁰Dishon, Ezer, and Dishan; these are the chiefs of the Horites, chief by chief in the land of Seir.

³¹These are the kings who reigned in the land of Edom, before any king reigned over the Israelites.

³²Bela the son of Beor reigned in Edom, the name of his city being Dinhabah.

³³Bela died, and Jobab the son of Zerah of Bozrah reigned in his place.

³⁴Jobab died, and Husham of the land of the Temanites reigned in his place.

³⁵Husham died, and Hadad the son of Bedad, who defeated Midian in the country of Moab, reigned in his place, the name of his city being Avith.

³⁶Hadad died, and Samlah of Masrekah reigned in his place.

³⁷Samlah died, and Shaul of Rehoboth on the Euphrates reigned in his place.

³⁸Shaul died, and Baal-hanan the son of Achbor reigned in his place.

³⁹Baal-hanan the son of Achbor died, and Hadar reigned in his place, the name of his city being Pau; his wife's name was Mehetabel, the daughter of Matred, daughter of Mezahab.

⁴⁰These are the names of the chiefs of Esau, according to their clans and their dwelling places, by their names: the chiefs Timna, Alvah, Jetheth,

⁴¹Oholibamah, Elah, Pinon,

⁴²Kenaz, Teman, Mibzar,

⁴³Magdiel, and Iram; these are the chiefs of Edom (that is, Esau, the father of Edom), according to their dwelling places in the land of their possession.

¹Therefore we must pay much closer attention to what we have heard, lest we drift away from it.

²For since the message declared by angels proved to be reliable, and every transgression or disobedience received a just retribution,

³how shall we escape if we neglect such a great salvation? It was declared at first by the Lord, and it was attested to us by those who heard,

⁴while God also bore witness by signs and wonders and various miracles and by gifts of the Holy Spirit distributed according to his will.

⁵For it was not to angels that God subjected the world to come, of which we are speaking.

⁶It has been testified somewhere, “What is man, that you are mindful of him, or the son of man, that you care for him?

⁷You made him for a little while lower than the angels; you have crowned him with glory and honor,

⁸putting everything in subjection under his feet.” Now in putting everything in subjection to him, he left nothing outside his control. At present, we do not yet see everything in subjection to him.

⁹But we see him who for a little while was made lower than the angels, namely Jesus, crowned with glory and honor because of the suffering of death, so that by the grace of God he might taste death for everyone.

¹⁰For it was fitting that he, for whom and by whom all things exist, in bringing many sons to glory, should make the founder of their salvation perfect through suffering.

¹¹For he who sanctifies and those who are sanctified all have one source. That is why he is not ashamed to call them brothers,

¹²saying, “I will tell of your name to my brothers; in the midst of the congregation I will sing your praise.”

¹³And again, “I will put my trust in him.” And again, “Behold, I and the children God has given me.”

¹⁴Since therefore the children share in flesh and blood, he himself likewise partook of the same things, that through death he might destroy the one who has the power of death, that is, the devil,

¹⁵and deliver all those who through fear of death were subject to lifelong slavery.

¹⁶For surely it is not angels that he helps, but he helps the offspring of Abraham.

¹⁷Therefore he had to be made like his brothers in every respect, so that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in the service of God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people.

¹⁸For because he himself has suffered when tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted.

¹Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, To those who are elect exiles of the Dispersion in Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia,

²according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, in the sanctification of the Spirit, for obedience to Jesus Christ and for sprinkling with his blood: May grace and peace be multiplied to you.

³Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,

⁴to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you,

⁵who by God's power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.

⁶In this you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials,

⁷so that the tested genuineness of your faith — more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire — may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ.

⁸Though you have not seen him, you love him. Though you do not now see him, you believe in him and rejoice with joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory,

⁹obtaining the outcome of your faith, the salvation of your souls.

¹⁰Concerning this salvation, the prophets who prophesied about the grace that was to be yours searched and inquired carefully,

¹¹inquiring what person or time the Spirit of Christ in them was indicating when he predicted the sufferings of Christ and the subsequent glories.

¹²It was revealed to them that they were serving not themselves but you, in the things that have now been announced to you through those who preached the good news to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven, things into which angels long to look.

¹³Therefore, preparing your minds for action, and being sober-minded, set your hope fully on the grace that will be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ.

¹⁴As obedient children, do not be conformed to the passions of your former ignorance,

¹⁵but as he who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct,

¹⁶since it is written, “You shall be holy, for I am holy.”

¹⁷And if you call on him as Father who judges impartially according to each one's deeds, conduct yourselves with fear throughout the time of your exile,

¹⁸knowing that you were ransomed from the futile ways inherited from your forefathers, not with perishable things such as silver or gold,

¹⁹but with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without blemish or spot.

²⁰He was foreknown before the foundation of the world but was made manifest in the last times for the sake of you

²¹who through him are believers in God, who raised him from the dead and gave him glory, so that your faith and hope are in God.

²²Having purified your souls by your obedience to the truth for a sincere brotherly love, love one another earnestly from a pure heart,

²³since you have been born again, not of perishable seed but of imperishable, through the living and abiding word of God;

²⁴for “All flesh is like grass and all its glory like the flower of grass. The grass withers, and the flower falls,

²⁵but the word of the Lord remains forever.” And this word is the good news that was preached to you.

¹“At this also my heart trembles and leaps out of its place.

²Keep listening to the thunder of his voice and the rumbling that comes from his mouth.

³Under the whole heaven he lets it go, and his lightning to the corners of the earth.

⁴After it his voice roars; he thunders with his majestic voice, and he does not restrain the lightnings when his voice is heard.

⁵God thunders wondrously with his voice; he does great things that we cannot comprehend.

⁶For to the snow he says, ‘Fall on the earth,’ likewise to the downpour, his mighty downpour.

⁷He seals up the hand of every man, that all men whom he made may know it.

⁸Then the beasts go into their lairs, and remain in their dens.

⁹From its chamber comes the whirlwind, and cold from the scattering winds.

¹⁰By the breath of God ice is given, and the broad waters are frozen fast.

¹¹He loads the thick cloud with moisture; the clouds scatter his lightning.

¹²They turn around and around by his guidance, to accomplish all that he commands them on the face of the habitable world.

¹³Whether for correction or for his land or for love, he causes it to happen.

¹⁴“Hear this, O Job; stop and consider the wondrous works of God.

¹⁵Do you know how God lays his command upon them and causes the lightning of his cloud to shine?

¹⁶Do you know the balancings of the clouds, the wondrous works of him who is perfect in knowledge,

¹⁷you whose garments are hot when the earth is still because of the south wind?

¹⁸Can you, like him, spread out the skies, hard as a cast metal mirror?

¹⁹Teach us what we shall say to him; we cannot draw up our case because of darkness.

²⁰Shall it be told him that I would speak? Did a man ever wish that he would be swallowed up?

²¹“And now no one looks on the light when it is bright in the skies, when the wind has passed and cleared them.

²²Out of the north comes golden splendor; God is clothed with awesome majesty.

²³The Almighty — we cannot find him; he is great in power; justice and abundant righteousness he will not violate.

²⁴Therefore men fear him; he does not regard any who are wise in their own conceit.”

¹Truly God is good to Israel, to those who are pure in heart.

²But as for me, my feet had almost stumbled, my steps had nearly slipped.

³For I was envious of the arrogant when I saw the prosperity of the wicked.

⁴For they have no pangs until death; their bodies are fat and sleek.

⁵They are not in trouble as others are; they are not stricken like the rest of mankind.

⁶Therefore pride is their necklace; violence covers them as a garment.

⁷Their eyes swell out through fatness; their hearts overflow with follies.

⁸They scoff and speak with malice; loftily they threaten oppression.

⁹They set their mouths against the heavens, and their tongue struts through the earth.

¹⁰Therefore his people turn back to them, and find no fault in them.

¹¹And they say, “How can God know? Is there knowledge in the Most High?”

¹²Behold, these are the wicked; always at ease, they increase in riches.

¹³All in vain have I kept my heart clean and washed my hands in innocence.

¹⁴For all the day long I have been stricken and rebuked every morning.

¹⁵If I had said, “I will speak thus,” I would have betrayed the generation of your children.

¹⁶But when I thought how to understand this, it seemed to me a wearisome task,

¹⁷until I went into the sanctuary of God; then I discerned their end.

¹⁸Truly you set them in slippery places; you make them fall to ruin.

¹⁹How they are destroyed in a moment, swept away utterly by terrors!

²⁰Like a dream when one awakes, O Lord, when you rouse yourself, you despise them as phantoms.

²¹When my soul was embittered, when I was pricked in heart,

²²I was brutish and ignorant; I was like a beast toward you.

²³Nevertheless, I am continually with you; you hold my right hand.

²⁴You guide me with your counsel, and afterward you will receive me to glory.

²⁵Whom have I in heaven but you? And there is nothing on earth that I desire besides you.

²⁶My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.

²⁷For behold, those who are far from you shall perish; you put an end to everyone who is unfaithful to you.

²⁸But for me it is good to be near God; I have made the Lord GOD my refuge, that I may tell of all your works.

¹My son, if you have put up security for your neighbor, have given your pledge for a stranger,

²if you are snared in the words of your mouth, caught in the words of your mouth,

³then do this, my son, and save yourself, for you have come into the hand of your neighbor: go, hasten, and plead urgently with your neighbor.

⁴Give your eyes no sleep and your eyelids no slumber;

⁵save yourself like a gazelle from the hand of the hunter, like a bird from the hand of the fowler.

⁶Go to the ant, O sluggard; consider her ways, and be wise.

⁷Without having any chief, officer, or ruler,

⁸she prepares her bread in summer and gathers her food in harvest.

⁹How long will you lie there, O sluggard? When will you arise from your sleep?

¹⁰A little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to rest,

¹¹and poverty will come upon you like a robber, and want like an armed man.

¹²A worthless person, a wicked man, goes about with crooked speech,

¹³winks with his eyes, signals with his feet, points with his finger,

¹⁴with perverted heart devises evil, continually sowing discord;

¹⁵therefore calamity will come upon him suddenly; in a moment he will be broken beyond healing.

¹⁶There are six things that the LORD hates, seven that are an abomination to him:

¹⁷haughty eyes, a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood,

¹⁸a heart that devises wicked plans, feet that make haste to run to evil,

¹⁹a false witness who breathes out lies, and one who sows discord among brothers.

²⁰My son, keep your father's commandment, and forsake not your mother's teaching.

²¹Bind them on your heart always; tie them around your neck.

²²When you walk, they will lead you; when you lie down, they will watch over you; and when you awake, they will talk with you.

²³For the commandment is a lamp and the teaching a light, and the reproofs of discipline are the way of life,

²⁴to preserve you from the evil woman, from the smooth tongue of the adulteress.

²⁵Do not desire her beauty in your heart, and do not let her capture you with her eyelashes;

²⁶for the price of a prostitute is only a loaf of bread, but a married woman hunts down a precious life.

²⁷Can a man carry fire next to his chest and his clothes not be burned?

²⁸Or can one walk on hot coals and his feet not be scorched?

²⁹So is he who goes in to his neighbor's wife; none who touches her will go unpunished.

³⁰People do not despise a thief if he steals to satisfy his appetite when he is hungry,

³¹but if he is caught, he will pay sevenfold; he will give all the goods of his house.

³²He who commits adultery lacks sense; he who does it destroys himself.

³³He will get wounds and dishonor, and his disgrace will not be wiped away.

³⁴For jealousy makes a man furious, and he will not spare when he takes revenge.

³⁵He will accept no compensation; he will refuse though you multiply gifts.

¹Now after this, in the reign of Artaxerxes king of Persia, Ezra the son of Seraiah, son of Azariah, son of Hilkiah,

²son of Shallum, son of Zadok, son of Ahitub,

³son of Amariah, son of Azariah, son of Meraioth,

⁴son of Zerahiah, son of Uzzi, son of Bukki,

⁵son of Abishua, son of Phinehas, son of Eleazar, son of Aaron the chief priest —

⁶this Ezra went up from Babylonia. He was a scribe skilled in the Law of Moses that the LORD, the God of Israel, had given, and the king granted him all that he asked, for the hand of the LORD his God was on him.

⁷And there went up also to Jerusalem, in the seventh year of Artaxerxes the king, some of the people of Israel, and some of the priests and Levites, the singers and gatekeepers, and the temple servants.

⁸And Ezra came to Jerusalem in the fifth month, which was in the seventh year of the king.

⁹For on the first day of the first month he began to go up from Babylonia, and on the first day of the fifth month he came to Jerusalem, for the good hand of his God was on him.

¹⁰For Ezra had set his heart to study the Law of the LORD, and to do it and to teach his statutes and rules in Israel.

¹¹This is a copy of the letter that King Artaxerxes gave to Ezra the priest, the scribe, a man learned in matters of the commandments of the LORD and his statutes for Israel:

¹²“Artaxerxes, king of kings, to Ezra the priest, the scribe of the Law of the God of heaven. Peace. And now

¹³I make a decree that anyone of the people of Israel or their priests or Levites in my kingdom, who freely offers to go to Jerusalem, may go with you.

¹⁴For you are sent by the king and his seven counselors to make inquiries about Judah and Jerusalem according to the Law of your God, which is in your hand,

¹⁵and also to carry the silver and gold that the king and his counselors have freely offered to the God of Israel, whose dwelling is in Jerusalem,

¹⁶with all the silver and gold that you shall find in the whole province of Babylonia, and with the freewill offerings of the people and the priests, vowed willingly for the house of their God that is in Jerusalem.

¹⁷With this money, then, you shall with all diligence buy bulls, rams, and lambs, with their grain offerings and their drink offerings, and you shall offer them on the altar of the house of your God that is in Jerusalem.

¹⁸Whatever seems good to you and your brothers to do with the rest of the silver and gold, you may do, according to the will of your God.

¹⁹The vessels that have been given you for the service of the house of your God, you shall deliver before the God of Jerusalem.

²⁰And whatever else is required for the house of your God, which it falls to you to provide, you may provide it out of the king's treasury.

²¹“And I, Artaxerxes the king, make a decree to all the treasurers in the province Beyond the River: Whatever Ezra the priest, the scribe of the Law of the God of heaven, requires of you, let it be done with all diligence,

²²up to 100 talents of silver, 100 cors of wheat, 100 baths of wine, 100 baths of oil, and salt without prescribing how much.

²³Whatever is decreed by the God of heaven, let it be done in full for the house of the God of heaven, lest his wrath be against the realm of the king and his sons.

²⁴We also notify you that it shall not be lawful to impose tribute, custom, or toll on anyone of the priests, the Levites, the singers, the doorkeepers, the temple servants, or other servants of this house of God.

²⁵“And you, Ezra, according to the wisdom of your God that is in your hand, appoint magistrates and judges who may judge all the people in the province Beyond the River, all such as know the laws of your God. And those who do not know them, you shall teach.

²⁶Whoever will not obey the law of your God and the law of the king, let judgment be strictly executed on him, whether for death or for banishment or for confiscation of his goods or for imprisonment.”

²⁷Blessed be the LORD, the God of our fathers, who put such a thing as this into the heart of the king, to beautify the house of the LORD that is in Jerusalem,

²⁸and who extended to me his steadfast love before the king and his counselors, and before all the king's mighty officers. I took courage, for the hand of the LORD my God was on me, and I gathered leading men from Israel to go up with me.

¹And when it was decided that we should sail for Italy, they delivered Paul and some other prisoners to a centurion of the Augustan Cohort named Julius.

²And embarking in a ship of Adramyttium, which was about to sail to the ports along the coast of Asia, we put to sea, accompanied by Aristarchus, a Macedonian from Thessalonica.

³The next day we put in at Sidon. And Julius treated Paul kindly and gave him leave to go to his friends and be cared for.

⁴And putting out to sea from there we sailed under the lee of Cyprus, because the winds were against us.

⁵And when we had sailed across the open sea along the coast of Cilicia and Pamphylia, we came to Myra in Lycia.

⁶There the centurion found a ship of Alexandria sailing for Italy and put us on board.

⁷We sailed slowly for a number of days and arrived with difficulty off Cnidus, and as the wind did not allow us to go farther, we sailed under the lee of Crete off Salmone.

⁸Coasting along it with difficulty, we came to a place called Fair Havens, near which was the city of Lasea.

⁹Since much time had passed, and the voyage was now dangerous because even the Fast was already over, Paul advised them,

¹⁰saying, “Sirs, I perceive that the voyage will be with injury and much loss, not only of the cargo and the ship, but also of our lives.”

¹¹But the centurion paid more attention to the pilot and to the owner of the ship than to what Paul said.

¹²And because the harbor was not suitable to spend the winter in, the majority decided to put out to sea from there, on the chance that somehow they could reach Phoenix, a harbor of Crete, facing both southwest and northwest, and spend the winter there.

¹³Now when the south wind blew gently, supposing that they had obtained their purpose, they weighed anchor and sailed along Crete, close to the shore.

¹⁴But soon a tempestuous wind, called the northeaster, struck down from the land.

¹⁵And when the ship was caught and could not face the wind, we gave way to it and were driven along.

¹⁶Running under the lee of a small island called Cauda, we managed with difficulty to secure the ship's boat.

¹⁷After hoisting it up, they used supports to undergird the ship. Then, fearing that they would run aground on the Syrtis, they lowered the gear, and thus they were driven along.

¹⁸Since we were violently storm-tossed, they began the next day to jettison the cargo.

¹⁹And on the third day they threw the ship's tackle overboard with their own hands.

²⁰When neither sun nor stars appeared for many days, and no small tempest lay on us, all hope of our being saved was at last abandoned.

²¹Since they had been without food for a long time, Paul stood up among them and said, “Men, you should have listened to me and not have set sail from Crete and incurred this injury and loss.

²²Yet now I urge you to take heart, for there will be no loss of life among you, but only of the ship.

²³For this very night there stood before me an angel of the God to whom I belong and whom I worship,

²⁴and he said, ‘Do not be afraid, Paul; you must stand before Caesar. And behold, God has granted you all those who sail with you.’

²⁵So take heart, men, for I have faith in God that it will be exactly as I have been told.

²⁶But we must run aground on some island.”

²⁷When the fourteenth night had come, as we were being driven across the Adriatic Sea, about midnight the sailors suspected that they were nearing land.

²⁸So they took a sounding and found twenty fathoms. A little farther on they took a sounding again and found fifteen fathoms.

²⁹And fearing that we might run on the rocks, they let down four anchors from the stern and prayed for day to come.

³⁰And as the sailors were seeking to escape from the ship, and had lowered the ship's boat into the sea under pretense of laying out anchors from the bow,

³¹Paul said to the centurion and the soldiers, “Unless these men stay in the ship, you cannot be saved.”

³²Then the soldiers cut away the ropes of the ship's boat and let it go.

³³As day was about to dawn, Paul urged them all to take some food, saying, “Today is the fourteenth day that you have continued in suspense and without food, having taken nothing.

³⁴Therefore I urge you to take some food. For it will give you strength, for not a hair is to perish from the head of any of you.”

³⁵And when he had said these things, he took bread, and giving thanks to God in the presence of all he broke it and began to eat.

³⁶Then they all were encouraged and ate some food themselves.

³⁷(We were in all 276 persons in the ship.)

³⁸And when they had eaten enough, they lightened the ship, throwing out the wheat into the sea.

³⁹Now when it was day, they did not recognize the land, but they noticed a bay with a beach, on which they planned if possible to run the ship ashore.

⁴⁰So they cast off the anchors and left them in the sea, at the same time loosening the ropes that tied the rudders. Then hoisting the foresail to the wind they made for the beach.

⁴¹But striking a reef, they ran the vessel aground. The bow stuck and remained immovable, and the stern was being broken up by the surf.

⁴²The soldiers' plan was to kill the prisoners, lest any should swim away and escape.

⁴³But the centurion, wishing to save Paul, kept them from carrying out their plan. He ordered those who could swim to jump overboard first and make for the land,

⁴⁴and the rest on planks or on pieces of the ship. And so it was that all were brought safely to land.