Professor Horner’s Reading Plan

¹And it came to pass in those days that a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be registered.

²This census first took place while Quirinius was governing Syria.

³So all went to be registered, everyone to his own city.

⁴Joseph also went up from Galilee, out of the city of Nazareth, into Judea, to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and lineage of David,

⁵to be registered with Mary, his betrothed wife, who was with child.

⁶So it was, that while they were there, the days were completed for her to be delivered.

⁷And she brought forth her firstborn Son, and wrapped Him in swaddling cloths, and laid Him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn.

⁸Now there were in the same country shepherds living out in the fields, keeping watch over their flock by night.

⁹And behold, an angel of the Lord stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were greatly afraid.

¹⁰Then the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid, for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy which will be to all people.

¹¹For there is born to you this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.

¹²And this will be the sign to you: You will find a Babe wrapped in swaddling cloths, lying in a manger.”

¹³And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying:

¹⁴“Glory to God in the highest, And on earth peace, goodwill toward men!”

¹⁵So it was, when the angels had gone away from them into heaven, that the shepherds said to one another, “Let us now go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has come to pass, which the Lord has made known to us.”

¹⁶And they came with haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the Babe lying in a manger.

¹⁷Now when they had seen Him, they made widely known the saying which was told them concerning this Child.

¹⁸And all those who heard it marveled at those things which were told them by the shepherds.

¹⁹But Mary kept all these things and pondered them in her heart.

²⁰Then the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things that they had heard and seen, as it was told them.

²¹And when eight days were completed for the circumcision of the Child, His name was called JESUS, the name given by the angel before He was conceived in the womb.

²²Now when the days of her purification according to the law of Moses were completed, they brought Him to Jerusalem to present Him to the Lord

²³(as it is written in the law of the Lord, “Every male who opens the womb shall be called holy to the LORD”),

²⁴and to offer a sacrifice according to what is said in the law of the Lord, “A pair of turtledoves or two young pigeons.”

²⁵And behold, there was a man in Jerusalem whose name was Simeon, and this man was just and devout, waiting for the Consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was upon him.

²⁶And it had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not see death before he had seen the Lord’s Christ.

²⁷So he came by the Spirit into the temple. And when the parents brought in the Child Jesus, to do for Him according to the custom of the law,

²⁸he took Him up in his arms and blessed God and said:

²⁹“Lord, now You are letting Your servant depart in peace, According to Your word;

³⁰For my eyes have seen Your salvation

³¹Which You have prepared before the face of all peoples,

³²A light to bring revelation to the Gentiles, And the glory of Your people Israel.”

³³And Joseph and His mother marveled at those things which were spoken of Him.

³⁴Then Simeon blessed them, and said to Mary His mother, “Behold, this Child is destined for the fall and rising of many in Israel, and for a sign which will be spoken against

³⁵(yes, a sword will pierce through your own soul also), that the thoughts of many hearts may be revealed.”

³⁶Now there was one, Anna, a prophetess, the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher. She was of a great age, and had lived with a husband seven years from her virginity;

³⁷and this woman was a widow of about eighty-four years, who did not depart from the temple, but served God with fastings and prayers night and day.

³⁸And coming in that instant she gave thanks to the Lord, and spoke of Him to all those who looked for redemption in Jerusalem.

³⁹So when they had performed all things according to the law of the Lord, they returned to Galilee, to their own city, Nazareth.

⁴⁰And the Child grew and became strong in spirit, filled with wisdom; and the grace of God was upon Him.

⁴¹His parents went to Jerusalem every year at the Feast of the Passover.

⁴²And when He was twelve years old, they went up to Jerusalem according to the custom of the feast.

⁴³When they had finished the days, as they returned, the Boy Jesus lingered behind in Jerusalem. And Joseph and His mother did not know it;

⁴⁴but supposing Him to have been in the company, they went a day’s journey, and sought Him among their relatives and acquaintances.

⁴⁵So when they did not find Him, they returned to Jerusalem, seeking Him.

⁴⁶Now so it was that after three days they found Him in the temple, sitting in the midst of the teachers, both listening to them and asking them questions.

⁴⁷And all who heard Him were astonished at His understanding and answers.

⁴⁸So when they saw Him, they were amazed; and His mother said to Him, “Son, why have You done this to us? Look, Your father and I have sought You anxiously.”

⁴⁹And He said to them, “Why did you seek Me? Did you not know that I must be about My Father’s business?”

⁵⁰But they did not understand the statement which He spoke to them.

⁵¹Then He went down with them and came to Nazareth, and was subject to them, but His mother kept all these things in her heart.

⁵²And Jesus increased in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and men.

¹Now Jacob dwelt in the land where his father was a stranger, in the land of Canaan.

²This is the history of Jacob. Joseph, being seventeen years old, was feeding the flock with his brothers. And the lad was with the sons of Bilhah and the sons of Zilpah, his father’s wives; and Joseph brought a bad report of them to his father.

³Now Israel loved Joseph more than all his children, because he was the son of his old age. Also he made him a tunic of many colors.

⁴But when his brothers saw that their father loved him more than all his brothers, they hated him and could not speak peaceably to him.

⁵Now Joseph had a dream, and he told it to his brothers; and they hated him even more.

⁶So he said to them, “Please hear this dream which I have dreamed:

⁷There we were, binding sheaves in the field. Then behold, my sheaf arose and also stood upright; and indeed your sheaves stood all around and bowed down to my sheaf.”

⁸And his brothers said to him, “Shall you indeed reign over us? Or shall you indeed have dominion over us?” So they hated him even more for his dreams and for his words.

⁹Then he dreamed still another dream and told it to his brothers, and said, “Look, I have dreamed another dream. And this time, the sun, the moon, and the eleven stars bowed down to me.”

¹⁰So he told it to his father and his brothers; and his father rebuked him and said to him, “What is this dream that you have dreamed? Shall your mother and I and your brothers indeed come to bow down to the earth before you?”

¹¹And his brothers envied him, but his father kept the matter in mind.

¹²Then his brothers went to feed their father’s flock in Shechem.

¹³And Israel said to Joseph, “Are not your brothers feeding the flock in Shechem? Come, I will send you to them.” So he said to him, “Here I am.”

¹⁴Then he said to him, “Please go and see if it is well with your brothers and well with the flocks, and bring back word to me.” So he sent him out of the Valley of Hebron, and he went to Shechem.

¹⁵Now a certain man found him, and there he was, wandering in the field. And the man asked him, saying, “What are you seeking?”

¹⁶So he said, “I am seeking my brothers. Please tell me where they are feeding their flocks.”

¹⁷And the man said, “They have departed from here, for I heard them say, ‘Let us go to Dothan.’ ” So Joseph went after his brothers and found them in Dothan.

¹⁸Now when they saw him afar off, even before he came near them, they conspired against him to kill him.

¹⁹Then they said to one another, “Look, this dreamer is coming!

²⁰Come therefore, let us now kill him and cast him into some pit; and we shall say, ‘Some wild beast has devoured him.’ We shall see what will become of his dreams!”

²¹But Reuben heard it, and he delivered him out of their hands, and said, “Let us not kill him.”

²²And Reuben said to them, “Shed no blood, but cast him into this pit which is in the wilderness, and do not lay a hand on him”—that he might deliver him out of their hands, and bring him back to his father.

²³So it came to pass, when Joseph had come to his brothers, that they stripped Joseph of his tunic, the tunic of many colors that was on him.

²⁴Then they took him and cast him into a pit. And the pit was empty; there was no water in it.

²⁵And they sat down to eat a meal. Then they lifted their eyes and looked, and there was a company of Ishmaelites, coming from Gilead with their camels, bearing spices, balm, and myrrh, on their way to carry them down to Egypt.

²⁶So Judah said to his brothers, “What profit is there if we kill our brother and conceal his blood?

²⁷Come and let us sell him to the Ishmaelites, and let not our hand be upon him, for he is our brother and our flesh.” And his brothers listened.

²⁸Then Midianite traders passed by; so the brothers pulled Joseph up and lifted him out of the pit, and sold him to the Ishmaelites for twenty shekels of silver. And they took Joseph to Egypt.

²⁹Then Reuben returned to the pit, and indeed Joseph was not in the pit; and he tore his clothes.

³⁰And he returned to his brothers and said, “The lad is no more; and I, where shall I go?”

³¹So they took Joseph’s tunic, killed a kid of the goats, and dipped the tunic in the blood.

³²Then they sent the tunic of many colors, and they brought it to their father and said, “We have found this. Do you know whether it is your son’s tunic or not?”

³³And he recognized it and said, “It is my son’s tunic. A wild beast has devoured him. Without doubt Joseph is torn to pieces.”

³⁴Then Jacob tore his clothes, put sackcloth on his waist, and mourned for his son many days.

³⁵And all his sons and all his daughters arose to comfort him; but he refused to be comforted, and he said, “For I shall go down into the grave to my son in mourning.” Thus his father wept for him.

³⁶Now the Midianites had sold him in Egypt to Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoh and captain of the guard.

¹Therefore, holy brethren, partakers of the heavenly calling, consider the Apostle and High Priest of our confession, Christ Jesus,

²who was faithful to Him who appointed Him, as Moses also was faithful in all His house.

³For this One has been counted worthy of more glory than Moses, inasmuch as He who built the house has more honor than the house.

⁴For every house is built by someone, but He who built all things is God.

⁵And Moses indeed was faithful in all His house as a servant, for a testimony of those things which would be spoken afterward,

⁶but Christ as a Son over His own house, whose house we are if we hold fast the confidence and the rejoicing of the hope firm to the end.

⁷Therefore, as the Holy Spirit says: “Today, if you will hear His voice,

⁸Do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion, In the day of trial in the wilderness,

⁹Where your fathers tested Me, tried Me, And saw My works forty years.

¹⁰Therefore I was angry with that generation, And said, ‘They always go astray in their heart, And they have not known My ways.’

¹¹So I swore in My wrath, ‘They shall not enter My rest.’ ”

¹²Beware, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief in departing from the living God;

¹³but exhort one another daily, while it is called “Today,” lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin.

¹⁴For we have become partakers of Christ if we hold the beginning of our confidence steadfast to the end,

¹⁵while it is said: “Today, if you will hear His voice, Do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion.”

¹⁶For who, having heard, rebelled? Indeed, was it not all who came out of Egypt, led by Moses?

¹⁷Now with whom was He angry forty years? Was it not with those who sinned, whose corpses fell in the wilderness?

¹⁸And to whom did He swear that they would not enter His rest, but to those who did not obey?

¹⁹So we see that they could not enter in because of unbelief.

¹Therefore, laying aside all malice, all deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and all evil speaking,

²as newborn babes, desire the pure milk of the word, that you may grow thereby,

³if indeed you have tasted that the Lord is gracious.

⁴Coming to Him as to a living stone, rejected indeed by men, but chosen by God and precious,

⁵you also, as living stones, are being built up a spiritual house, a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.

⁶Therefore it is also contained in the Scripture, “Behold, I lay in Zion A chief cornerstone, elect, precious, And he who believes on Him will by no means be put to shame.”

⁷Therefore, to you who believe, He is precious; but to those who are disobedient, “The stone which the builders rejected Has become the chief cornerstone,”

⁸and “A stone of stumbling And a rock of offense.” They stumble, being disobedient to the word, to which they also were appointed.

⁹But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light;

¹⁰who once were not a people but are now the people of God, who had not obtained mercy but now have obtained mercy.

¹¹Beloved, I beg you as sojourners and pilgrims, abstain from fleshly lusts which war against the soul,

¹²having your conduct honorable among the Gentiles, that when they speak against you as evildoers, they may, by your good works which they observe, glorify God in the day of visitation.

¹³Therefore submit yourselves to every ordinance of man for the Lord’s sake, whether to the king as supreme,

¹⁴or to governors, as to those who are sent by him for the punishment of evildoers and for the praise of those who do good.

¹⁵For this is the will of God, that by doing good you may put to silence the ignorance of foolish men—

¹⁶as free, yet not using liberty as a cloak for vice, but as bondservants of God.

¹⁷Honor all people. Love the brotherhood. Fear God. Honor the king.

¹⁸Servants, be submissive to your masters with all fear, not only to the good and gentle, but also to the harsh.

¹⁹For this is commendable, if because of conscience toward God one endures grief, suffering wrongfully.

²⁰For what credit is it if, when you are beaten for your faults, you take it patiently? But when you do good and suffer, if you take it patiently, this is commendable before God.

²¹For to this you were called, because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that you should follow His steps:

²²“Who committed no sin, Nor was deceit found in His mouth”;

²³who, when He was reviled, did not revile in return; when He suffered, He did not threaten, but committed Himself to Him who judges righteously;

²⁴who Himself bore our sins in His own body on the tree, that we, having died to sins, might live for righteousness— by whose stripes you were healed.

²⁵For you were like sheep going astray, but have now returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls.

¹Then the LORD answered Job out of the whirlwind, and said:

²“Who is this who darkens counsel By words without knowledge?

³Now prepare yourself like a man; I will question you, and you shall answer Me.

⁴“Where were you when I laid the foundations of the earth? Tell Me, if you have understanding.

⁵Who determined its measurements? Surely you know! Or who stretched the line upon it?

⁶To what were its foundations fastened? Or who laid its cornerstone,

⁷When the morning stars sang together, And all the sons of God shouted for joy?

⁸“Or who shut in the sea with doors, When it burst forth and issued from the womb;

⁹When I made the clouds its garment, And thick darkness its swaddling band;

¹⁰When I fixed My limit for it, And set bars and doors;

¹¹When I said, ‘This far you may come, but no farther, And here your proud waves must stop!’

¹²“Have you commanded the morning since your days began, And caused the dawn to know its place,

¹³That it might take hold of the ends of the earth, And the wicked be shaken out of it?

¹⁴It takes on form like clay under a seal, And stands out like a garment.

¹⁵From the wicked their light is withheld, And the upraised arm is broken.

¹⁶“Have you entered the springs of the sea? Or have you walked in search of the depths?

¹⁷Have the gates of death been revealed to you? Or have you seen the doors of the shadow of death?

¹⁸Have you comprehended the breadth of the earth? Tell Me, if you know all this.

¹⁹“Where is the way to the dwelling of light? And darkness, where is its place,

²⁰That you may take it to its territory, That you may know the paths to its home?

²¹Do you know it, because you were born then, Or because the number of your days is great?

²²“Have you entered the treasury of snow, Or have you seen the treasury of hail,

²³Which I have reserved for the time of trouble, For the day of battle and war?

²⁴By what way is light diffused, Or the east wind scattered over the earth?

²⁵“Who has divided a channel for the overflowing water, Or a path for the thunderbolt,

²⁶To cause it to rain on a land where there is no one, A wilderness in which there is no man;

²⁷To satisfy the desolate waste, And cause to spring forth the growth of tender grass?

²⁸Has the rain a father? Or who has begotten the drops of dew?

²⁹From whose womb comes the ice? And the frost of heaven, who gives it birth?

³⁰The waters harden like stone, And the surface of the deep is frozen.

³¹“Can you bind the cluster of the Pleiades, Or loose the belt of Orion?

³²Can you bring out Mazzaroth in its season? Or can you guide the Great Bear with its cubs?

³³Do you know the ordinances of the heavens? Can you set their dominion over the earth?

³⁴“Can you lift up your voice to the clouds, That an abundance of water may cover you?

³⁵Can you send out lightnings, that they may go, And say to you, ‘Here we are!’?

³⁶Who has put wisdom in the mind? Or who has given understanding to the heart?

³⁷Who can number the clouds by wisdom? Or who can pour out the bottles of heaven,

³⁸When the dust hardens in clumps, And the clods cling together?

³⁹“Can you hunt the prey for the lion, Or satisfy the appetite of the young lions,

⁴⁰When they crouch in their dens, Or lurk in their lairs to lie in wait?

⁴¹Who provides food for the raven, When its young ones cry to God, And wander about for lack of food?

¹A Contemplation of Asaph. [1] O God, why have You cast us off forever? Why does Your anger smoke against the sheep of Your pasture?

²Remember Your congregation, which You have purchased of old, The tribe of Your inheritance, which You have redeemed— This Mount Zion where You have dwelt.

³Lift up Your feet to the perpetual desolations. The enemy has damaged everything in the sanctuary.

⁴Your enemies roar in the midst of Your meeting place; They set up their banners for signs.

⁵They seem like men who lift up Axes among the thick trees.

⁶And now they break down its carved work, all at once, With axes and hammers.

⁷They have set fire to Your sanctuary; They have defiled the dwelling place of Your name to the ground.

⁸They said in their hearts, “Let us destroy them altogether.” They have burned up all the meeting places of God in the land.

⁹We do not see our signs; There is no longer any prophet; Nor is there any among us who knows how long.

¹⁰O God, how long will the adversary reproach? Will the enemy blaspheme Your name forever?

¹¹Why do You withdraw Your hand, even Your right hand? Take it out of Your bosom and destroy them.

¹²For God is my King from of old, Working salvation in the midst of the earth.

¹³You divided the sea by Your strength; You broke the heads of the sea serpents in the waters.

¹⁴You broke the heads of Leviathan in pieces, And gave him as food to the people inhabiting the wilderness.

¹⁵You broke open the fountain and the flood; You dried up mighty rivers.

¹⁶The day is Yours, the night also is Yours; You have prepared the light and the sun.

¹⁷You have set all the borders of the earth; You have made summer and winter.

¹⁸Remember this, that the enemy has reproached, O LORD, And that a foolish people has blasphemed Your name.

¹⁹Oh, do not deliver the life of Your turtledove to the wild beast! Do not forget the life of Your poor forever.

²⁰Have respect to the covenant; For the dark places of the earth are full of the haunts of cruelty.

²¹Oh, do not let the oppressed return ashamed! Let the poor and needy praise Your name.

²²Arise, O God, plead Your own cause; Remember how the foolish man reproaches You daily.

²³Do not forget the voice of Your enemies; The tumult of those who rise up against You increases continually.

¹My son, keep my words, And treasure my commands within you.

²Keep my commands and live, And my law as the apple of your eye.

³Bind them on your fingers; Write them on the tablet of your heart.

⁴Say to wisdom, “You are my sister,” And call understanding your nearest kin,

⁵That they may keep you from the immoral woman, From the seductress who flatters with her words.

⁶For at the window of my house I looked through my lattice,

⁷And saw among the simple, I perceived among the youths, A young man devoid of understanding,

⁸Passing along the street near her corner; And he took the path to her house

⁹In the twilight, in the evening, In the black and dark night.

¹⁰And there a woman met him, With the attire of a harlot, and a crafty heart.

¹¹She was loud and rebellious, Her feet would not stay at home.

¹²At times she was outside, at times in the open square, Lurking at every corner.

¹³So she caught him and kissed him; With an impudent face she said to him:

¹⁴“I have peace offerings with me; Today I have paid my vows.

¹⁵So I came out to meet you, Diligently to seek your face, And I have found you.

¹⁶I have spread my bed with tapestry, Colored coverings of Egyptian linen.

¹⁷I have perfumed my bed With myrrh, aloes, and cinnamon.

¹⁸Come, let us take our fill of love until morning; Let us delight ourselves with love.

¹⁹For my husband is not at home; He has gone on a long journey;

²⁰He has taken a bag of money with him, And will come home on the appointed day.”

²¹With her enticing speech she caused him to yield, With her flattering lips she seduced him.

²²Immediately he went after her, as an ox goes to the slaughter, Or as a fool to the correction of the stocks,

²³Till an arrow struck his liver. As a bird hastens to the snare, He did not know it would cost his life.

²⁴Now therefore, listen to me, my children; Pay attention to the words of my mouth:

²⁵Do not let your heart turn aside to her ways, Do not stray into her paths;

²⁶For she has cast down many wounded, And all who were slain by her were strong men.

²⁷Her house is the way to hell, Descending to the chambers of death.

¹These are the heads of their fathers’ houses, and this is the genealogy of those who went up with me from Babylon, in the reign of King Artaxerxes:

²of the sons of Phinehas, Gershom; of the sons of Ithamar, Daniel; of the sons of David, Hattush;

³of the sons of Shecaniah, of the sons of Parosh, Zechariah; and registered with him were one hundred and fifty males;

⁴of the sons of Pahath-Moab, Eliehoenai the son of Zerahiah, and with him two hundred males;

⁵of the sons of Shechaniah, Ben-Jahaziel, and with him three hundred males;

⁶of the sons of Adin, Ebed the son of Jonathan, and with him fifty males;

⁷of the sons of Elam, Jeshaiah the son of Athaliah, and with him seventy males;

⁸of the sons of Shephatiah, Zebadiah the son of Michael, and with him eighty males;

⁹of the sons of Joab, Obadiah the son of Jehiel, and with him two hundred and eighteen males;

¹⁰of the sons of Shelomith, Ben-Josiphiah, and with him one hundred and sixty males;

¹¹of the sons of Bebai, Zechariah the son of Bebai, and with him twenty-eight males;

¹²of the sons of Azgad, Johanan the son of Hakkatan, and with him one hundred and ten males;

¹³of the last sons of Adonikam, whose names are these—Eliphelet, Jeiel, and Shemaiah—and with them sixty males;

¹⁴also of the sons of Bigvai, Uthai and Zabbud, and with them seventy males.

¹⁵Now I gathered them by the river that flows to Ahava, and we camped there three days. And I looked among the people and the priests, and found none of the sons of Levi there.

¹⁶Then I sent for Eliezer, Ariel, Shemaiah, Elnathan, Jarib, Elnathan, Nathan, Zechariah, and Meshullam, leaders; also for Joiarib and Elnathan, men of understanding.

¹⁷And I gave them a command for Iddo the chief man at the place Casiphia, and I told them what they should say to Iddo and his brethren the Nethinim at the place Casiphia—that they should bring us servants for the house of our God.

¹⁸Then, by the good hand of our God upon us, they brought us a man of understanding, of the sons of Mahli the son of Levi, the son of Israel, namely Sherebiah, with his sons and brothers, eighteen men;

¹⁹and Hashabiah, and with him Jeshaiah of the sons of Merari, his brothers and their sons, twenty men;

²⁰also of the Nethinim, whom David and the leaders had appointed for the service of the Levites, two hundred and twenty Nethinim. All of them were designated by name.

²¹Then I proclaimed a fast there at the river of Ahava, that we might humble ourselves before our God, to seek from Him the right way for us and our little ones and all our possessions.

²²For I was ashamed to request of the king an escort of soldiers and horsemen to help us against the enemy on the road, because we had spoken to the king, saying, “The hand of our God is upon all those for good who seek Him, but His power and His wrath are against all those who forsake Him.”

²³So we fasted and entreated our God for this, and He answered our prayer.

²⁴And I separated twelve of the leaders of the priests—Sherebiah, Hashabiah, and ten of their brethren with them—

²⁵and weighed out to them the silver, the gold, and the articles, the offering for the house of our God which the king and his counselors and his princes, and all Israel who were present, had offered.

²⁶I weighed into their hand six hundred and fifty talents of silver, silver articles weighing one hundred talents, one hundred talents of gold,

²⁷twenty gold basins worth a thousand drachmas, and two vessels of fine polished bronze, precious as gold.

²⁸And I said to them, “You are holy to the LORD; the articles are holy also; and the silver and the gold are a freewill offering to the LORD God of your fathers.

²⁹Watch and keep them until you weigh them before the leaders of the priests and the Levites and heads of the fathers’ houses of Israel in Jerusalem, in the chambers of the house of the LORD.”

³⁰So the priests and the Levites received the silver and the gold and the articles by weight, to bring them to Jerusalem to the house of our God.

³¹Then we departed from the river of Ahava on the twelfth day of the first month, to go to Jerusalem. And the hand of our God was upon us, and He delivered us from the hand of the enemy and from ambush along the road.

³²So we came to Jerusalem, and stayed there three days.

³³Now on the fourth day the silver and the gold and the articles were weighed in the house of our God by the hand of Meremoth the son of Uriah the priest, and with him was Eleazar the son of Phinehas; with them were the Levites, Jozabad the son of Jeshua and Noadiah the son of Binnui,

³⁴with the number and weight of everything. All the weight was written down at that time.

³⁵The children of those who had been carried away captive, who had come from the captivity, offered burnt offerings to the God of Israel: twelve bulls for all Israel, ninety-six rams, seventy-seven lambs, and twelve male goats as a sin offering. All this was a burnt offering to the LORD.

³⁶And they delivered the king’s orders to the king’s satraps and the governors in the region beyond the River. So they gave support to the people and the house of God.

¹Now when they had escaped, they then found out that the island was called Malta.

²And the natives showed us unusual kindness; for they kindled a fire and made us all welcome, because of the rain that was falling and because of the cold.

³But when Paul had gathered a bundle of sticks and laid them on the fire, a viper came out because of the heat, and fastened on his hand.

⁴So when the natives saw the creature hanging from his hand, they said to one another, “No doubt this man is a murderer, whom, though he has escaped the sea, yet justice does not allow to live.”

⁵But he shook off the creature into the fire and suffered no harm.

⁶However, they were expecting that he would swell up or suddenly fall down dead. But after they had looked for a long time and saw no harm come to him, they changed their minds and said that he was a god.

⁷In that region there was an estate of the leading citizen of the island, whose name was Publius, who received us and entertained us courteously for three days.

⁸And it happened that the father of Publius lay sick of a fever and dysentery. Paul went in to him and prayed, and he laid his hands on him and healed him.

⁹So when this was done, the rest of those on the island who had diseases also came and were healed.

¹⁰They also honored us in many ways; and when we departed, they provided such things as were necessary.

¹¹After three months we sailed in an Alexandrian ship whose figurehead was the Twin Brothers, which had wintered at the island.

¹²And landing at Syracuse, we stayed three days.

¹³From there we circled round and reached Rhegium. And after one day the south wind blew; and the next day we came to Puteoli,

¹⁴where we found brethren, and were invited to stay with them seven days. And so we went toward Rome.

¹⁵And from there, when the brethren heard about us, they came to meet us as far as Appii Forum and Three Inns. When Paul saw them, he thanked God and took courage.

¹⁶Now when we came to Rome, the centurion delivered the prisoners to the captain of the guard; but Paul was permitted to dwell by himself with the soldier who guarded him.

¹⁷And it came to pass after three days that Paul called the leaders of the Jews together. So when they had come together, he said to them: “Men and brethren, though I have done nothing against our people or the customs of our fathers, yet I was delivered as a prisoner from Jerusalem into the hands of the Romans,

¹⁸who, when they had examined me, wanted to let me go, because there was no cause for putting me to death.

¹⁹But when the Jews spoke against it, I was compelled to appeal to Caesar, not that I had anything of which to accuse my nation.

²⁰For this reason therefore I have called for you, to see you and speak with you, because for the hope of Israel I am bound with this chain.”

²¹Then they said to him, “We neither received letters from Judea concerning you, nor have any of the brethren who came reported or spoken any evil of you.

²²But we desire to hear from you what you think; for concerning this sect, we know that it is spoken against everywhere.”

²³So when they had appointed him a day, many came to him at his lodging, to whom he explained and solemnly testified of the kingdom of God, persuading them concerning Jesus from both the Law of Moses and the Prophets, from morning till evening.

²⁴And some were persuaded by the things which were spoken, and some disbelieved.

²⁵So when they did not agree among themselves, they departed after Paul had said one word: “The Holy Spirit spoke rightly through Isaiah the prophet to our fathers,

²⁶saying, ‘Go to this people and say: “Hearing you will hear, and shall not understand; And seeing you will see, and not perceive;

²⁷For the hearts of this people have grown dull. Their ears are hard of hearing, And their eyes they have closed, Lest they should see with their eyes and hear with their ears, Lest they should understand with their hearts and turn, So that I should heal them.” ’

²⁸“Therefore let it be known to you that the salvation of God has been sent to the Gentiles, and they will hear it!”

²⁹And when he had said these words, the Jews departed and had a great dispute among themselves.

³⁰Then Paul dwelt two whole years in his own rented house, and received all who came to him,

³¹preaching the kingdom of God and teaching the things which concern the Lord Jesus Christ with all confidence, no one forbidding him.