Professor Horner’s Reading Plan

¹Jesus spoke to them again in parables, saying,

²“The kingdom of heavenis likea king whoheld a wedding feast for his son.

³And he sent his slaves to call those who had been invited to the wedding feast, and they were unwilling to come.

⁴Again he sent other slaves, saying, ‘Tell those who have been invited, “Behold, I have prepared my dinner; my oxen and my fattened cattle are all butchered and everything is ready. Come to the wedding feast!” ’

⁵But they paid no attention and went their separate ways, one to his ownfarm, another to his business,

⁶and the rest seized his slaves and treated them abusively, and then killed them.

⁷Now the king was angry, and he sent his armies and destroyed those murderers and set their city on fire.

⁸Then he *said to his slaves, ‘The wedding feast is ready, but those who were invited were not worthy.

⁹So go to the main roads, and invite whomever you find there to the wedding feast.’

¹⁰Those slaves went out into the streets and gathered together all whom they found, both bad and good; and the wedding hall was filled withdinner guests.

¹¹“But when the king came in to look over the dinner guests, he saw a man there who was not dressed in wedding clothes,

¹²and he *said to him, ‘Friend, how did you get in here without wedding clothes?’ And the man was speechless.

¹³Then the king said to the servants, ‘Tie his hands and feet, and throw him into the outer darkness; there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth in that place.’

¹⁴For many arecalled, but few are chosen.”

¹⁵Then the Pharisees went and plotted together how they might trap Him in what He said.

¹⁶And they *sent their disciples to Him, along with the Herodians, saying, “Teacher, we know that You are truthful and teach the way of God in truth, and do not care what anyone thinks; for You are not partial to anyone.

¹⁷Tell us then, what do You think? Is it permissible to pay a poll-tax to Caesar, or not?”

¹⁸But Jesus perceived their malice, and said, “Why are you testing Me, you hypocrites?

¹⁹Show Me the coin used for the poll-tax.” And they brought Him a denarius.

²⁰And He *said to them, “Whose image and inscription is this?”

²¹They *said to Him, “Caesar’s.” Then He *said to them, “Then pay to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s; and to God the things that are God’s.”

²²And hearing this, they were amazed; and they left Him and went away.

²³On that day some Sadducees (who say there is no resurrection) came to Jesus and questioned Him,

²⁴saying, “Teacher, Moses said, ‘If a man dies having no children, his brother as next of kin shall marry his wife, and raise up children for his brother.’

²⁵Now there were seven brothers among us; and the first married and died, and having no children, he left his wife to his brother.

²⁶It was the same also with the second brother, and the third, down to the seventh.

²⁷Last of all, the woman died.

²⁸In the resurrection, therefore, whose wife of the seven will she be? For they all had her in marriage.”

²⁹But Jesus answered and said to them, “You are mistaken, since you do notunderstand the Scriptures nor the power of God.

³⁰For in the resurrection they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are like angels in heaven.

³¹But regarding the resurrection of the dead, have you not read what was spoken to you by God:

³²‘I AM THE GOD OF ABRAHAM, THE GOD OF ISAAC, AND THE GOD OF JACOB’? He is not the God of the dead, but of the living.”

³³When the crowds heard this, they were astonished at His teaching.

³⁴But when the Pharisees heard that Jesus had silenced the Sadducees, they gathered together.

³⁵And one of them, a lawyer, asked Him a question, testing Him:

³⁶“Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?”

³⁷And He said to him, “ ‘YOU SHALL LOVE THE LORD YOUR GOD WITH ALL YOUR HEART, AND WITH ALL YOUR SOUL, AND WITH ALL YOUR MIND.’

³⁸This is the great andforemost commandment.

³⁹The second is like it, ‘YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF.’

⁴⁰Upon these two commandmentshang the whole Law and the Prophets.”

⁴¹Now while the Pharisees were gathered together, Jesus asked them a question:

⁴²“What do you think about theChrist? Whose son is He?” They *said to Him, “The son of David.”

⁴³He *said to them, “Thenhow does Davidin the Spirit call Him ‘Lord,’ saying,

⁴⁴‘THE LORD SAID TO MY LORD, “SIT AT MY RIGHT HAND, UNTIL I PUT YOUR ENEMIES UNDER YOUR FEET” ’?

⁴⁵Therefore, if David calls Him ‘Lord,’ how is He his son?”

⁴⁶No one was able to offer Him a word in answer, nor did anyone dare from that day on to ask Him any more questions.

¹Now it came about after these things, that God tested Abraham, and said to him, “Abraham!” And he said, “Here I am.”

²Then He said, “Take now your son, your only son, whom you love, Isaac, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I will tell you.”

³So Abraham got up early in the morning and saddled his donkey, and took two of his young men with him and his son Isaac; and he split wood for the burnt offering, and set out and went to the place of which God had told him.

⁴On the third day Abraham raised his eyes and saw the place from a distance.

⁵Then Abraham said to his young men, “Stay here with the donkey, and I and the boy will go over there; and we will worship and return to you.”

⁶And Abraham took the wood for the burnt offering and laid it on his son Isaac, and he took in his hand the fire and the knife. So the two of them walked on together.

⁷Isaac spoke to his father Abraham and said, “My father!” And he said, “Here I am, my son.” And he said, “Look, the fire and the wood, but where is the lamb for the burnt offering?”

⁸Abraham said, “God will provide for Himself the lamb for the burnt offering, my son.” So the two of them walked on together.

⁹Then they came to the place of which God had told him; and Abraham built the altar there and arranged the wood, and bound his son Isaac and laid him on the altar, on top of the wood.

¹⁰And Abraham reached out with his hand and took the knife to slaughter his son.

¹¹But the angel of the LORD called to him from heaven and said, “Abraham, Abraham!” And he said, “Here I am.”

¹²He said, “Do not reach out your hand against the boy, and do not do anything to him; for now I know that you fear God, since you have not withheld your son, your only son, from Me.”

¹³Then Abraham raised his eyes and looked, and behold, behind him was a ram caught in the thicket by its horns; and Abraham went and took the ram and offered it up as a burnt offering in the place of his son.

¹⁴And Abraham named that place The LORD Will Provide, as it is said to this day, “On the mountain of the LORD it will be provided.”

¹⁵Then the angel of the LORD called to Abraham a second time from heaven,

¹⁶and said, “By Myself I have sworn, declares the LORD, because you have done this thing and have not withheld your son, your only son,

¹⁷indeed I will greatly bless you, and I will greatly multiply your seed as the stars of the heavens and as the sand, which is on the seashore; and your seed shall possess the gate of their enemies.

¹⁸And in your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed, because you have obeyed My voice.”

¹⁹So Abraham returned to his young men, and they got up and went together to Beersheba; and Abraham lived in Beersheba.

²⁰Now it came about after these things, that Abraham was told, saying, “Behold, Milcah also has borne children to your brother Nahor:

²¹Uz his firstborn, Buz his brother, Kemuel (the father of Aram),

²²Chesed, Hazo, Pildash, Jidlaph, and Bethuel”—

²³and it was Bethuel who fathered Rebekah. These eight Milcah bore to Nahor, Abraham’s brother.

²⁴His concubine, whose name was Reumah, also gave birth to Tebah, Gaham, Tahash, and Maacah.

¹Does any one of you, when he has a case against his neighbor, dare to go to law before the unrighteous and not before the saints?

²Or do you not know that the saints will judge the world? If the world is judged by you, are you not competent to form the smallest law courts?

³Do you not know that we will judge angels? How much more matters of this life?

⁴So if you have law courts dealing with matters of this life, do you appoint them as judges who are of no account in the church?

⁵I say this to your shame. Is it so, that there is not among you anyone wise who will be able to decide between his brothers and sisters,

⁶but brother goes to law with brother, and that before unbelievers?

⁷Actually, then, it is already a defeat for you, that you have lawsuits with one another. Why not rather suffer the wrong? Why not rather be defrauded?

⁸On the contrary, you yourselves do wrong and defraud. And this to your brothers and sisters!

⁹Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived; neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor homosexuals,

¹⁰nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor those habitually drunk, nor verbal abusers, nor swindlers, will inherit the kingdom of God.

¹¹Such were some of you; but you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and in the Spirit of our God.

¹²All things are permitted for me, but not all things are of benefit. All things are permitted for me, but I will not be mastered by anything.

¹³Food is for the stomach and the stomach is for food, however God will do away with both of them. But the body is not for sexual immorality, but for the Lord, and the Lord is for the body.

¹⁴Now God has not only raised the Lord, but will also raise us up through His power.

¹⁵Do you not know that your bodies are parts of Christ? Shall I then take away the parts of Christ and make them parts of a prostitute? Far from it!

¹⁶Or do you not know that the one who joins himself to a prostitute is one body with her? For He says, “THE TWO SHALL BECOME ONE FLESH.”

¹⁷But the one who joins himself to the Lord is one spirit with Him.

¹⁸Flee sexual immorality. Every other sin that a person commits is outside the body, but the sexually immoral person sins against his own body.

¹⁹Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God, and that you are not your own?

²⁰For you have been bought for a price: therefore glorify God in your body.

¹Paul, a prisoner of Christ Jesus, and Timothy our brother, To Philemon our beloved brother and fellow worker,

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

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

⁴I thank my God always, making mention of you in my prayers,

⁵because I hear of your love and of the faith which you have toward the Lord Jesus and toward all the saints;

⁶and I pray that the fellowship of your faith may become effective through the knowledge of every good thing which is in you for the sake of Christ.

⁷For I have had great joy and comfort in your love, because the hearts of the saints have been refreshed through you, brother.

⁸Therefore, though I have enough confidence in Christ to order you to do what is proper,

⁹yet for love’s sake I rather appeal to you—since I am such a person as Paul, an old man, and now also a prisoner of Christ Jesus—

¹⁰I appeal to you for my son Onesimus, whom I fathered in my imprisonment,

¹¹who previously was useless to you, but now is useful both to you and to me.

¹²I have sent him back to you in person, that is, sending my very heart,

¹³whom I wanted to keep with me, so that in your behalf he might be at my service in my imprisonment for the gospel;

¹⁴but I did not want to do anything without your consent, so that your goodness would not be, in effect, by compulsion, but of your own free will.

¹⁵For perhaps it was for this reason that he was separated from you for a while, that you would have him back forever,

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

¹⁷If then you regard me as a partner, accept him as you would me.

¹⁸But if he has wronged you in any way or owes you anything, charge that to my account;

¹⁹I, Paul, have written this with my own hand, I will repay it (not to mention to you that you owe to me even your own self as well).

²⁰Yes, brother, let me benefit from you in the Lord; refresh my heart in Christ.

²¹Having confidence in your obedience, I write to you, since I know that you will do even more than what I say.

²²At the same time also prepare me a guest room, for I hope that through your prayers I will be given to you.

²³Epaphras, my fellow prisoner in Christ Jesus, greets you,

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

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

¹Then Eliphaz the Temanite responded,

²“Can a strong man be of use to God, Or a wise one be useful to himself?

³Is it any pleasure to the Almighty if you are righteous, Or gain if you make your ways blameless?

⁴Is it because of your reverence that He punishes you, That He enters into judgment against you?

⁵Is your wickedness not abundant, And is there no end to your guilty deeds?

⁶For you have seized pledges from your brothers without cause, And stripped people naked.

⁷You have given the weary no water to drink, And you have withheld bread from the hungry.

⁸But the earth belongs to the powerful man, And the one who is honorable dwells on it.

⁹You have sent widows away empty, And the strength of orphans has been crushed.

¹⁰Therefore traps surround you, And sudden dread terrifies you,

¹¹Or darkness, so that you cannot see, And a flood of water covers you.

¹²“Is God not in the height of heaven? Look also at the highest stars, how high they are!

¹³But you say, ‘What does God know? Can He judge through the thick darkness?

¹⁴Clouds are a hiding place for Him, so that He cannot see; And He walks on the vault of heaven.’

¹⁵Will you keep to the ancient path Which wicked people have walked,

¹⁶Who were snatched away before their time, Whose foundations were washed away by a river?

¹⁷They said to God, ‘Go away from us!’ And ‘What can the Almighty do to them?’

¹⁸Yet He filled their houses with good things; But the advice of the wicked is far from me.

¹⁹The righteous see and are glad, And the innocent mock them, saying,

²⁰‘Truly our enemies are eliminated, And fire has consumed their abundance.’

²¹“Be reconciled with Him, and be at peace; Thereby good will come to you.

²²Please receive instruction from His mouth, And put His words in your heart.

²³If you return to the Almighty, you will be restored; If you remove injustice far from your tent,

²⁴And put your gold in the dust, And the gold of Ophir among the stones of the brooks,

²⁵Then the Almighty will be your gold And abundant silver to you.

²⁶For then you will take pleasure in the Almighty And lift up your face to God.

²⁷You will pray to Him, and He will hear you; And you will pay your vows.

²⁸You will also decide something, and it will be established for you; And light will shine on your ways.

²⁹When they have brought you low, you will speak with confidence, And He will save the humble person.

³⁰He will rescue one who is not innocent, And he will be rescued due to the cleanness of your hands.”

¹My God, my God, why have You forsaken me? Far from my help are the words of my groaning.

²My God, I cry out by day, but You do not answer; And by night, but I have no rest.

³Yet You are holy, You who are enthroned upon the praises of Israel.

⁴In You our fathers trusted; They trusted and You rescued them.

⁵To You they cried out and they fled to safety; In You they trusted and were not disappointed.

⁶But I am a worm and not a person, A disgrace of mankind and despised by the people.

⁷All who see me deride me; They sneer, they shake their heads, saying,

⁸“Turn him over to the LORD; let Him save him; Let Him rescue him, because He delights in him.”

⁹Yet You are He who brought me forth from the womb; You made me trust when upon my mother’s breasts.

¹⁰I was cast upon You from birth; You have been my God from my mother’s womb.

¹¹Do not be far from me, for trouble is near; For there is no one to help.

¹²Many bulls have surrounded me; Strong bulls of Bashan have encircled me.

¹³They open their mouths wide at me, As a ravening and roaring lion.

¹⁴I am poured out like water, And all my bones are out of joint; My heart is like wax; It is melted within me.

¹⁵My strength is dried up like a piece of pottery, And my tongue clings to my jaws; And You lay me in the dust of death.

¹⁶For dogs have surrounded me; A band of evildoers has encompassed me; They pierced my hands and my feet.

¹⁷I can count all my bones. They look, they stare at me;

¹⁸They divide my garments among them, And they cast lots for my clothing.

¹⁹But You, LORD, do not be far away; You who are my help, hurry to my assistance.

²⁰Save my soul from the sword, My only life from the power of the dog.

²¹Save me from the lion’s mouth; From the horns of the wild oxen You answer me.

²²I will proclaim Your name to my brothers; In the midst of the assembly I will praise You.

²³You who fear the LORD, praise Him; All you descendants of Jacob, glorify Him, And stand in awe of Him, all you descendants of Israel.

²⁴For He has not despised nor scorned the suffering of the afflicted; Nor has He hidden His face from him; But when he cried to Him for help, He heard.

²⁵From You comes my praise in the great assembly; I shall pay my vows before those who fear Him.

²⁶The afflicted will eat and be satisfied; Those who seek Him will praise the LORD. May your heart live forever!

²⁷All the ends of the earth will remember and turn to the LORD, And all the families of the nations will worship before You.

²⁸For the kingdom is the LORD’S And He rules over the nations.

²⁹All the prosperous of the earth will eat and worship, All those who go down to the dust will kneel before Him, Even he who cannot keep his soul alive.

³⁰A posterity will serve Him; It will be told of the Lord to the coming generation.

³¹They will come and will declare His righteousness To a people who will be born, that He has performed it.

¹A good name is to be more desired than great wealth; Favor is better than silver and gold.

²The rich and the poor have a common bond, The LORD is the Maker of them all.

³A prudent person sees evil and hides himself, But the naive proceed, and pay the penalty.

⁴The reward of humility and the fear of the LORD Are riches, honor, and life.

⁵Thorns and snares are in the way of the perverse; One who guards himself will be far from them.

⁶Train up a child in the way he should go, Even when he grows older he will not abandon it.

⁷The rich rules over the poor, And the borrower becomes the lender’s slave.

⁸One who sows injustice will reap disaster, And the rod of his fury will perish.

⁹One who is generous will be blessed, Because he gives some of his food to the poor.

¹⁰Drive out the scoffer, and strife will leave, Even quarreling and dishonor will cease.

¹¹One who loves purity of heart And whose speech is gracious, the king is his friend.

¹²The eyes of the LORD protect knowledge, But He overthrows the words of the treacherous person.

¹³The lazy one says, “There is a lion outside; I will be killed in the streets!”

¹⁴The mouth of an adulteress is a deep pit; He who is cursed of the LORD will fall into it.

¹⁵Foolishness is bound up in the heart of a child; The rod of discipline will remove it far from him.

¹⁶One who oppresses the poor to make more for himself, Or gives to the rich, will only come to poverty.

¹⁷Extend your ear and hear the words of the wise, And apply your mind to my knowledge;

¹⁸For it will be pleasant if you keep them within you, So that they may be ready on your lips.

¹⁹So that your trust may be in the LORD, I have taught you today, you indeed.

²⁰Have I not written to you excellent things Of counsels and knowledge,

²¹To make you know the certainty of the words of truth, So that you may correctly answer him who sent you?

²²Do not rob the poor because he is poor, Nor crush the needy at the gate;

²³For the LORD will plead their case And take the life of those who rob them.

²⁴Do not make friends with a person given to anger, Or go with a hot-tempered person,

²⁵Or you will learn his ways And find a snare for yourself.

²⁶Do not be among those who shake hands, Among those who become guarantors for debts.

²⁷If you have nothing with which to repay, Why should he take your bed from under you?

²⁸Do not move the ancient boundary Which your fathers have set.

²⁹Do you see a person skilled in his work? He will stand before kings; He will not stand before obscure people.

¹Then Joshua summoned the Reubenites and the Gadites, and the half-tribe of Manasseh,

²and said to them, “You have kept all that Moses the servant of the LORD commanded you, and have listened to my voice in all that I commanded you.

³You have not abandoned your brothers these many days to this day, but have fulfilled the obligation of the commandment of the LORD your God.

⁴And now the LORD your God has given rest to your brothers, as He spoke to them; therefore turn now and go to your tents, to the land of your possession, which Moses the servant of the LORD gave you beyond the Jordan.

⁵Only be very careful to follow the commandment and the Law which Moses the servant of the LORD commanded you, to love the LORD your God and walk in all His ways, and keep His commandments and cling to Him, and serve Him with all your heart and with all your soul.”

⁶So Joshua blessed them and sent them away, and they went to their tents.

⁷Now to the one half-tribe of Manasseh Moses had given a possession in Bashan, but to the other half Joshua gave a possession among their brothers westward beyond the Jordan. So when Joshua sent them away to their tents, he also blessed them,

⁸and said to them, “Return to your tents with great riches and with very many livestock, with silver, gold, bronze, iron, and with very many clothes; divide the spoils of your enemies with your brothers.”

⁹So the sons of Reuben, the sons of Gad, and the half-tribe of Manasseh returned home, leaving the sons of Israel at Shiloh, which is in the land of Canaan, to go to the land of Gilead, to the land of their possession in which they had settled, in accordance with the command of the LORD through Moses.

¹⁰When they came to the region of the Jordan which is in the land of Canaan, the sons of Reuben, the sons of Gad, and the half-tribe of Manasseh built an altar there by the Jordan, a large altar in appearance.

¹¹But the sons of Israel heard a report: “Behold, the sons of Reuben, the sons of Gad, and the half-tribe of Manasseh have built an altar at the frontier of the land of Canaan, in the region of the Jordan, on the side belonging to the sons of Israel.”

¹²And when the sons of Israel heard about it, the entire congregation of the sons of Israel assembled at Shiloh to go up against them in battle.

¹³Then the sons of Israel sent to the sons of Reuben, to the sons of Gad, and to the half-tribe of Manasseh, in the land of Gilead, Phinehas the son of Eleazar the priest,

¹⁴and with him ten leaders, one leader for each father’s household from each of the tribes of Israel; and each one of them was the head of his father’s household among the thousands of Israel.

¹⁵They came to the sons of Reuben, the sons of Gad, and to the half-tribe of Manasseh, in the land of Gilead, and they spoke with them, saying,

¹⁶“This is what the whole congregation of the LORD says: ‘What is this unfaithful act which you have committed against the God of Israel, turning away from following the LORD this day, by building yourselves an altar, to rebel against the LORD this day?

¹⁷Is the wrongdoing of Peor not enough for us, from which we have not cleansed ourselves to this day, although a plague came on the congregation of the LORD,

¹⁸that you must turn away this day from following the LORD? If you rebel against the LORD today, He will be angry with the entire congregation of Israel tomorrow.

¹⁹If, however, the land of your possession is unclean, then cross into the land of the possession of the LORD, where the LORD’S tabernacle stands, and settle among us. Only do not rebel against the LORD, or rebel against us, by building an altar for yourselves besides the altar of the LORD our God.

²⁰Did Achan the son of Zerah not act unfaithfully in the things designated for destruction, and wrath fall on the entire congregation of Israel? So that man did not perish alone in his guilt.’ ”

²¹Then the sons of Reuben, the sons of Gad, and the half-tribe of Manasseh answered and spoke to the heads of the families of Israel.

²²“The Mighty One, God, the LORD, the Mighty One, God, the LORD! He knows, and may Israel itself know. If it was in rebellion, or if in an unfaithful act against the LORD, do not save us this day!

²³If we have built us an altar to turn away from following the LORD, or if to offer a burnt offering or grain offering on it, or if to offer sacrifices of peace offerings on it, may the LORD Himself demand it.

²⁴But truly we have done this out of concern, for a reason, saying, ‘In time to come your sons may say to our sons, “What have you to do with the LORD, the God of Israel?

²⁵For the LORD has made the Jordan a border between us and you, you sons of Reuben and sons of Gad; you have no portion in the LORD.” So your sons may make our sons stop fearing the LORD.’

²⁶“Therefore we said, ‘Let’s build an altar, not for burnt offering or for sacrifice;

²⁷rather, it shall be a witness between us and you and between our generations after us, that we are to perform the service of the LORD before Him with our burnt offerings, our sacrifices, and with our peace offerings, so that your sons will not say to our sons in time to come, “You have no portion in the LORD.” ’

²⁸Therefore we said, ‘It shall also come about if they say this to us or to our generations in time to come, then we shall say, “See the copy of the altar of the LORD which our fathers made, not for burnt offering or for sacrifice; rather, it is a witness between us and you.” ’

²⁹Far be it from us that we should rebel against the LORD and turn away from following the LORD this day, by building an altar for burnt offering, for grain offering, or for sacrifice, besides the altar of the LORD our God which is before His tabernacle.”

³⁰So when Phinehas the priest and the leaders of the congregation, that is, the heads of the families of Israel who were with him, heard the words which the sons of Reuben, the sons of Gad, and the sons of Manasseh spoke, it pleased them.

³¹And Phinehas the son of Eleazar the priest said to the sons of Reuben, the sons of Gad, and to the sons of Manasseh, “Today we know that the LORD is in our midst, because you have not committed this unfaithful act against the LORD; now you have saved the sons of Israel from the hand of the LORD.”

³²Then Phinehas the son of Eleazar the priest and the leaders returned from the sons of Reuben and from the sons of Gad, from the land of Gilead to the land of Canaan, to the sons of Israel, and brought back word to them.

³³The word pleased the sons of Israel, and the sons of Israel blessed God; and they did not speak of going up against them in battle to destroy the land in which the sons of Reuben and the sons of Gad were living.

³⁴And the sons of Reuben and the sons of Gad called the altar Witness; “For,” they said, “it is a witness between us that the LORD is God.”

¹The pronouncement concerning the valley of vision: What is the matter with you now, that you have all gone up to the housetops?

²You who were full of noise, You tumultuous town, you jubilant city; Your dead were not killed with the sword, Nor did they die in battle.

³All your rulers have fled together, And have been captured without the bow; All of you who were found were taken captive together, Though they had fled far away.

⁴Therefore I say, “Look away from me, Let me weep bitterly, Do not try to comfort me concerning the destruction of the daughter of my people.”

⁵For the Lord GOD of armies has a day of panic, subjugation, and confusion In the valley of vision, A breaking down of walls And a crying to the mountain.

⁶Elam picked up the quiver, With the chariots, infantry, and horsemen; And Kir uncovered the shield.

⁷Then your choicest valleys were full of chariots, And the horsemen took positions at the gate.

⁸And He removed the defense of Judah. On that day you depended on the weapons of the house of the forest,

⁹And you saw that the breaches In the wall of the city of David were many; And you collected the waters of the lower pool.

¹⁰Then you counted the houses of Jerusalem And tore down houses to fortify the wall.

¹¹And you made a reservoir between the two walls For the waters of the old pool. But you did not depend on Him who made it, Nor did you take into consideration Him who planned it long ago.

¹²Therefore on that day the Lord GOD of armies called you to weeping, to wailing, To shaving the head, and to wearing sackcloth.

¹³Instead, there is joy and jubilation, Killing of cattle and slaughtering of sheep, Eating of meat and drinking of wine: “Let’s eat and drink, for tomorrow we may die.”

¹⁴But the LORD of armies revealed Himself to me: “Certainly this wrongdoing will not be forgiven you Until you die,” says the Lord GOD of armies.

¹⁵This is what the Lord GOD of armies says: “Come, go to this steward, To Shebna who is in charge of the royal household,

¹⁶‘What right do you have here, And whom do you have here, That you have cut out a tomb for yourself here, You who cut out a tomb on the height, You who carve a resting place for yourself in the rock?

¹⁷Behold, the LORD is about to hurl you violently, you strong man. And He is about to grasp you firmly

¹⁸And wrap you up tightly like a ball, To be driven into a vast country; There you will die, And there your splendid chariots will be, You shame of your master’s house!’

¹⁹I will depose you from your office, And I will pull you down from your position.

²⁰Then it will come about on that day, That I will summon My servant Eliakim the son of Hilkiah,

²¹And I will clothe him with your tunic And tie your sash securely around him. I will hand your authority over to him, And he will become a father to the inhabitants of Jerusalem and to the house of Judah.

²²Then I will put the key of the house of David on his shoulder; When he opens, no one will shut, When he shuts, no one will open.

²³I will drive him like a peg in a firm place, And he will become a throne of glory to his father’s house.

²⁴So they will hang on him all the glory of his father’s house, the offspring and the descendants, all the least of vessels, from bowls to all the jars.

²⁵On that day,” declares the LORD of armies, “the peg driven into a firm place will give way; it will even break off and fall, and the load that is hanging on it will be cut off, for the LORD has spoken.”

¹“Brothers and fathers, hear my defense which I now offer to you.”

²And when they heard that he was addressing them in the Hebrew dialect, they became even more quiet; and he *said,

³“I am a Jew, born in Tarsus of Cilicia, but brought up in this city, educated under Gamaliel, strictly according to the Law of our fathers, being zealous for God just as you all are today.

⁴I persecuted this Way to the death, binding and putting both men and women into prisons,

⁵as also the high priest and all the Council of the elders can testify. From them I also received letters to the brothers, and started off for Damascus in order to bring even those who were there to Jerusalem as prisoners to be punished.

⁶“But it happened that as I was on my way, approaching Damascus at about noon, a very bright light suddenly flashed from heaven all around me,

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

⁸And I answered, ‘Who are You, Lord?’ And He said to me, ‘I am Jesus the Nazarene, whom you are persecuting.’

⁹And those who were with me saw the light, but did not understand the voice of the One who was speaking to me.

¹⁰And I said, ‘What shall I do, Lord?’ And the Lord said to me, ‘Get up and go on into Damascus, and there you will be told about everything that has been appointed for you to do.’

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

¹²“Now a certain Ananias, a man who was devout by the standard of the Law and well spoken of by all the Jews who lived there,

¹³came to me, and standing nearby he said to me, ‘Brother Saul, receive your sight!’ And at that very moment I looked up at him.

¹⁴And he said, ‘The God of our fathers has appointed you to know His will and to see the Righteous One and to hear a message from His mouth.

¹⁵For you will be a witness for Him to all people of what you have seen and heard.

¹⁶Now why do you delay? Get up and be baptized, and wash away your sins by calling on His name.’

¹⁷“It happened when I returned to Jerusalem and was praying in the temple, that I fell into a trance,

¹⁸and I saw Him saying to me, ‘Hurry and get out of Jerusalem quickly, because they will not accept your testimony about Me.’

¹⁹And I said, ‘Lord, they themselves understand that in one synagogue after another I used to imprison and beat those who believed in You.

²⁰And when the blood of Your witness Stephen was being shed, I also was standing nearby and approving, and watching over the cloaks of those who were killing him.’

²¹And He said to me, ‘Go! For I will send you far away to the Gentiles.’  ”

²²They listened to him up to this statement, and then they raised their voices and said, “Away with such a man from the earth, for he should not be allowed to live!”

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

²⁴the commander ordered that he be brought into the barracks, saying that he was to be interrogated by flogging so that he would find out the reason why they were shouting against him that way.

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

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

²⁷The commander came and said to Paul, “Tell me, are you a Roman?” And he said, “Yes.”

²⁸The commander answered, “I acquired this citizenship for a large sum of money.” And Paul said, “But I was actually born a citizen.”

²⁹Therefore, those who were about to interrogate him immediately backed away from him; and the commander also was afraid when he found out that he was a Roman, and because he had put him in chains.

³⁰Now on the next day, wanting to know for certain why Paul had been accused by the Jews, he released him and ordered the chief priests and all the Council to assemble, and he brought Paul down and placed him before them.