Professor Horner’s Reading Plan

¹Now He was telling them a parable to show that at all times they ought to pray and not become discouraged,

²saying, “In a certain city there was a judge who did not fear God and did not respect any person.

³Now there was a widow in that city, and she kept coming to him, saying, ‘Give me justice against myopponent.’

⁴For a while he was unwilling; but later he said to himself, ‘Even though I do not fear God nor respect any person,

⁵yet because this widow is bothering me, I will give her justice; otherwiseby continually coming she will wear me out.’ ”

⁶And the Lord said, “Listen to what the unrighteous judge *said;

⁷now, will God not bring about justice for His elect who cry out to Him dayand night, and will He delay long for them?

⁸I tell you that He will bring about justice for them quickly. However, when the Son of Man comes, will He findfaith on the earth?”

⁹Now He also told this parable to some people who trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and viewed others with contempt:

¹⁰“Two men went up into thetemple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector.

¹¹The Pharisee stood and began praying this in regard to himself: ‘God, I thank You that I am not like other people: swindlers, crooked, adulterers, or even like this tax collector.

¹²I fast twice a week; I pay tithes of all that I get.’

¹³But the tax collector, standing some distance away, was even unwilling to raise his eyes toward heaven, but was beating his chest, saying, ‘God, bemerciful to me, the sinner!’

¹⁴I tell you, this man went to his house justified rather than the other one; for everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted.”

¹⁵Now they were bringing even their babies to Him so that He would touch them; but when the disciples saw it, they began rebuking them.

¹⁶But Jesus called for the little ones, saying, “Allow the children to come to Me, and do notforbid them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these.

¹⁷Truly I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child will not enter it at all.”

¹⁸A ruler questioned Him, saying, “Good Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?”

¹⁹But Jesus said to him, “Why do you call Megood? No one isgood except God alone.

²⁰You know the commandments, ‘DO NOT COMMIT ADULTERY, DO NOT MURDER, DO NOT STEAL, DO NOT GIVE FALSE TESTIMONY, HONOR YOUR FATHER AND MOTHER.’ ”

²¹And he said, “All these things I have kept since my youth.”

²²Now when Jesus heard this, He said to him, “One thing you still lack; sell all that you possess and distribute the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me.”

²³But when he had heard these things, he became very sad, for he was extremely wealthy.

²⁴And Jesus looked at him and said, “How hard it is for those who are wealthy to enter the kingdom of God!

²⁵For it is easier for a camel togo through the eye of a needle, than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God!”

²⁶Those who heard Him said, “And so who can be saved?”

²⁷But He said, “The things that are impossible with people are possible with God.”

²⁸Peter said, “Behold, we have left our own homes and followed You.”

²⁹And He said to them, “Truly I say to you, there is no one who has left house, or wife, or brothers, or parents, or children for the sake of the kingdom of God,

³⁰who will not receive many times as much at this time, and in the age to come, eternal life.”

³¹Now He took the twelve aside and said to them, “Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem, and all the things that have been written through the prophets about the Son of Man will be accomplished.

³²For He will behanded over to the Gentiles, and will be ridiculed, and abused, and spit upon,

³³and after they have flogged Him, they will kill Him; and on the third day He will rise.”

³⁴The disciples understood none of these things, and the meaning of this statement was hidden from them, and they did not comprehend the things that were said.

³⁵Now as Jesus was approaching Jericho, a man who was blind was sitting by the road, begging.

³⁶But when he heard a crowd going by, he began inquiring what this was.

³⁷They told him that Jesus of Nazareth was passing by.

³⁸And he called out, saying, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!”

³⁹Those who led the way were sternly telling him to be quiet; but he kept crying out all the more, “Son of David, have mercy on me!”

⁴⁰And Jesus stopped and commanded that he be brought to Him; and when he came near, He asked him,

⁴¹“What do you want Me to do for you?” And he said, “Lord, I want to regain my sight!”

⁴²And Jesus said to him, “Regain your sight; your faith hasmade you well.”

⁴³And immediately he regained his sight and began following Him, glorifying God; and when all the people saw it, they gave praise to God.

¹Now Moses was pasturing the flock of his father-in-law Jethro, the priest of Midian; and he led the flock to the west side of the wilderness and came to Horeb, the mountain of God.

²Then the angel of the LORD appeared to him in a blazing fire from the midst of a bush; and he looked, and behold, the bush was burning with fire, yet the bush was not being consumed.

³So Moses said, “I must turn aside and see this marvelous sight, why the bush is not burning up!”

⁴When the LORD saw that he turned aside to look, God called to him from the midst of the bush and said, “Moses, Moses!” And he said, “Here I am.”

⁵Then He said, “Do not come near here; remove your sandals from your feet, for the place on which you are standing is holy ground.”

⁶And He said, “I am the God of your father—the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.” Then Moses hid his face, for he was afraid to look at God.

⁷And the LORD said, “I have certainly seen the oppression of My people who are in Egypt, and have heard their outcry because of their taskmasters, for I am aware of their sufferings.

⁸So I have come down to rescue them from the power of the Egyptians, and to bring them up from that land to a good and spacious land, to a land flowing with milk and honey, to the place of the Canaanite, the Hittite, the Amorite, the Perizzite, the Hivite, and the Jebusite.

⁹And now, behold, the cry of the sons of Israel has come to Me; furthermore, I have seen the oppression with which the Egyptians are oppressing them.

¹⁰And now come, and I will send you to Pharaoh, so that you may bring My people, the sons of Israel, out of Egypt.”

¹¹But Moses said to God, “Who am I, that I should go to Pharaoh, and that I should bring the sons of Israel out of Egypt?”

¹²And He said, “Assuredly I will be with you, and this shall be the sign to you that it is I who have sent you: when you have brought the people out of Egypt, you shall worship God at this mountain.”

¹³Then Moses said to God, “Behold, I am going to the sons of Israel, and I will say to them, ‘The God of your fathers has sent me to you.’ Now they may say to me, ‘What is His name?’ What shall I say to them?”

¹⁴And God said to Moses, “I AM WHO I AM”; and He said, “This is what you shall say to the sons of Israel: ‘I AM has sent me to you.’ ”

¹⁵God furthermore said to Moses, “This is what you shall say to the sons of Israel: ‘The LORD, the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has sent me to you.’ This is My name forever, and this is the name for all generations to use to call upon Me.

¹⁶Go and gather the elders of Israel together and say to them, ‘The LORD, the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob has appeared to me, saying, “I am indeed concerned about you and what has been done to you in Egypt.

¹⁷So I said, I will bring you up out of the oppression of Egypt to the land of the Canaanite, the Hittite, the Amorite, the Perizzite, the Hivite, and the Jebusite, to a land flowing with milk and honey.” ’

¹⁸Then they will pay attention to what you say; and you with the elders of Israel will come to the king of Egypt, and you will say to him, ‘The LORD, the God of the Hebrews, has met with us. So now, please let us go a three days’ journey into the wilderness, so that we may sacrifice to the LORD our God.’

¹⁹But I know that the king of Egypt will not permit you to go, except under compulsion.

²⁰So I will reach out with My hand and strike Egypt with all My miracles which I shall do in the midst of it; and after that he will let you go.

²¹I will grant this people favor in the sight of the Egyptians; and it shall be that when you go, you will not go empty-handed.

²²But every woman shall ask her neighbor and the woman who lives in her house for articles of silver and articles of gold, and clothing; and you will put them on your sons and daughters. So you will plunder the Egyptians.”

¹What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin so that grace may increase?

²Far from it! How shall we who died to sin still live in it?

³Or do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus have been baptized into His death?

⁴Therefore we have been buried with Him through baptism into death, so that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we too may walk in newness of life.

⁵For if we have become united with Him in the likeness of His death, certainly we shall also be in the likeness of His resurrection,

⁶knowing this, that our old self was crucified with Him, in order that our body of sin might be done away with, so that we would no longer be slaves to sin;

⁷for the one who has died is freed from sin.

⁸Now if we have died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with Him,

⁹knowing that Christ, having been raised from the dead, is never to die again; death no longer is master over Him.

¹⁰For the death that He died, He died to sin once for all time; but the life that He lives, He lives to God.

¹¹So you too, consider yourselves to be dead to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus.

¹²Therefore sin is not to reign in your mortal body so that you obey its lusts,

¹³and do not go on presenting the parts of your body to sin as instruments of unrighteousness; but present yourselves to God as those who are alive from the dead, and your body’s parts as instruments of righteousness for God.

¹⁴For sin shall not be master over you, for you are not under the Law but under grace.

¹⁵What then? Are we to sin because we are not under the Law but under grace? Far from it!

¹⁶Do you not know that the one to whom you present yourselves as slaves for obedience, you are slaves of that same one whom you obey, either of sin resulting in death, or of obedience resulting in righteousness?

¹⁷But thanks be to God that though you were slaves of sin, you became obedient from the heart to that form of teaching to which you were entrusted,

¹⁸and after being freed from sin, you became slaves to righteousness.

¹⁹I am speaking in human terms because of the weakness of your flesh. For just as you presented the parts of your body as slaves to impurity and to lawlessness, resulting in further lawlessness, so now present your body’s parts as slaves to righteousness, resulting in sanctification.

²⁰For when you were slaves of sin, you were free in relation to righteousness.

²¹Therefore what benefit were you then deriving from the things of which you are now ashamed? For the outcome of those things is death.

²²But now having been freed from sin and enslaved to God, you derive your benefit, resulting in sanctification, and the outcome, eternal life.

²³For the wages of sin is death, but the gracious gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

¹“To the angel of the church in Ephesus write: The One who holds the seven stars in His right hand, the One who walks among the seven golden lampstands, says this:

²‘I know your deeds and your labor and perseverance, and that you cannot tolerate evil people, and you have put those who call themselves apostles to the test, and they are not, and you found them to be false;

³and you haveperseverance and have endured on account of My name, and have not become weary.

⁴But I have this against you, that you have left your first love.

⁵Therefore, remember from where you have fallen, and repent, and do thedeeds you did at first; or else I am coming to you and I will remove your lampstand from its place—unless you repent.

⁶But you have this, that you hate the deeds of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate.

⁷The one who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To the one who overcomes, I will grant to eat from the tree of life, which is in the Paradise of God.’

⁸“And to the angel of the church in Smyrna write: The first and the last, who was dead, and has come to life, says this:

⁹‘I know your tribulation and your poverty (but you are rich), and the slander by those who say they are Jews, and are not, but are a synagogue of Satan.

¹⁰Do not fear what you are about to suffer. Behold, the devil is about to throw some of you into prison, so that you will be tested, and you will have tribulation for ten days.Be faithful until death, and I will give you the crown of life.

¹¹The one who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. The one who overcomes will not be hurt by the second death.’

¹²“And to the angel of the church in Pergamum write: The One who has the sharp two-edged sword says this:

¹³‘I know where you dwell, where Satan’s throne is; and you hold firmly to My name, and did not deny My faith even in the days of Antipas, My witness, My faithful one, who was killed among you, where Satan dwells.

¹⁴But I have a few things against you, because you have some there who hold the teaching of Balaam, who kept teaching Balak to put astumbling block before the sons of Israel, to eat things sacrificed to idols and to commit sexual immorality.

¹⁵So you too, have some who in the same way hold to the teaching of the Nicolaitans.

¹⁶Therefore repent; or else I am coming to you quickly, and I will wage war against them with the sword of My mouth.

¹⁷The one who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To the one who overcomes, I will give some of the hidden manna, and I will give him a white stone, and a new name written on the stone which no one knows except the one who receives it.’

¹⁸“And to the angel of the church in Thyatira write: The Son of God, who has eyes like a flame of fire, and feet like burnished bronze, says this:

¹⁹‘I know your deeds, and your love and faith, and service and perseverance, and that your deeds of late are greater than at first.

²⁰But I have this against you, that you tolerate the woman Jezebel, who calls herself a prophetess, and she teaches and leads My bond-servants astray so that they commit sexual immorality and eat things sacrificed to idols.

²¹I gave her time to repent, and she does not want to repent of her sexual immorality.

²²Behold, I will throw her on a bed of sickness, and those who commit adultery with her into great tribulation, unless they repent ofher deeds.

²³And I will kill her children withplague, and all the churches will know that I am He who searches theminds and hearts; and I will give to each one of you according to your deeds.

²⁴But I say to you, the rest who are in Thyatira, who do not hold this teaching, who have not known the deep things of Satan, as they call them—I place no other burden on you.

²⁵Nevertheless what you have, hold firmly until I come.

²⁶The one who overcomes, and the one who keeps My deeds until the end, I will give him authority over thenations;

²⁷AND HE SHALLRULE THEM WITH A ROD OF IRON, AS THE VESSELS OF THE POTTER ARE SHATTERED, as I also have received authority from My Father;

²⁸and I will give him the morning star.

²⁹The one who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.’

¹Remember also your Creator in the days of your youth, before the evil days come and the years approach when you will say, “I have no pleasure in them”;

²before the sun and the light, the moon and the stars are darkened, and clouds return after the rain;

³on the day that the watchmen of the house tremble, and strong men are bent over, the grinders stop working because they are few, and those who look through windows grow dim;

⁴and the doors on the street are shut as the sound of the grinding mill is low, and one will arise at the sound of the bird, and all the daughters of song will sing softly.

⁵Furthermore, people are afraid of a high place and of terrors on the road; the almond tree blossoms, the grasshopper drags itself along, and the caper berry is ineffective. For man goes to his eternal home while the mourners move around in the street.

⁶Remember your Creator before the silver cord is broken and the golden bowl is crushed, the pitcher by the spring is shattered and the wheel at the cistern is crushed;

⁷then the dust will return to the earth as it was, and the spirit will return to God who gave it.

⁸“Futility of futilities,” says the Preacher, “all is futility!”

⁹In addition to being wise, the Preacher also taught the people knowledge; and he pondered, searched out, and arranged many proverbs.

¹⁰The Preacher sought to find delightful words and to write words of truth correctly.

¹¹The words of the wise are like goads, and masters of these collections are like driven nails; they are given by one Shepherd.

¹²But beyond this, my son, be warned: the writing of many books is endless, and excessive study is wearying to the body.

¹³The conclusion, when everything has been heard, is: fear God and keep His commandments, because this applies to every person.

¹⁴For God will bring every act to judgment, everything which is hidden, whether it is good or evil.

¹Lord, You have been our dwelling place in all generations.

²Before the mountains were born Or You gave birth to the earth and the world, Even from everlasting to everlasting, You are God.

³You turn mortals back into dust And say, “Return, you sons of mankind.”

⁴For a thousand years in Your sight Are like yesterday when it passes by, Or like a watch in the night.

⁵You have swept them away like a flood, they fall asleep; In the morning they are like grass that sprouts anew.

⁶In the morning it flourishes and sprouts anew; Toward evening it wilts and withers away.

⁷For we have been consumed by Your anger, And we have been terrified by Your wrath.

⁸You have placed our guilty deeds before You, Our hidden sins in the light of Your presence.

⁹For all our days have dwindled away in Your fury; We have finished our years like a sigh.

¹⁰As for the days of our life, they contain seventy years, Or if due to strength, eighty years, Yet their pride is only trouble and tragedy; For it quickly passes, and we disappear.

¹¹Who understands the power of Your anger And Your fury, according to the fear that is due You?

¹²So teach us to number our days, That we may present to You a heart of wisdom.

¹³Do return, LORD; how long will it be? And be sorry for Your servants.

¹⁴Satisfy us in the morning with Your graciousness, That we may sing for joy and rejoice all our days.

¹⁵Make us glad according to the days You have afflicted us, And the years we have seen evil.

¹⁶Let Your work appear to Your servants And Your majesty to their children.

¹⁷May the kindness of the Lord our God be upon us; And confirm for us the work of our hands; Yes, confirm the work of our hands.

¹When you sit down to dine with a ruler, Consider carefully what is before you,

²And put a knife to your throat If you are a person of great appetite.

³Do not desire his delicacies, For it is deceptive food.

⁴Do not weary yourself to gain wealth; Stop dwelling on it.

⁵When you set your eyes on it, it is gone. For wealth certainly makes itself wings Like an eagle that flies toward the heavens.

⁶Do not eat the bread of a selfish person; Or desire his delicacies;

⁷For as he thinks within himself, so he is. He says to you, “Eat and drink!” But his heart is not with you.

⁸You will vomit up the morsel you have eaten And waste your compliments.

⁹Do not speak to be heard by a fool, For he will despise the wisdom of your words.

¹⁰Do not move the ancient boundary Or go into the fields of the fatherless,

¹¹For their Redeemer is strong; He will plead their case against you.

¹²Apply your heart to discipline, And your ears to words of knowledge.

¹³Do not withhold discipline from a child; Though you strike him with the rod, he will not die.

¹⁴You shall strike him with the rod And rescue his soul from Sheol.

¹⁵My son, if your heart is wise, My own heart also will be glad,

¹⁶And my innermost being will rejoice When your lips speak what is right.

¹⁷Do not let your heart envy sinners, But live in the fear of the LORD always.

¹⁸Certainly there is a future, And your hope will not be cut off.

¹⁹Listen, my son, and be wise, And direct your heart in the way.

²⁰Do not be with heavy drinkers of wine, Or with gluttonous eaters of meat;

²¹For the heavy drinker and the glutton will come to poverty, And drowsiness will clothe one with rags.

²²Listen to your father, who fathered you, And do not despise your mother when she is old.

²³Buy truth, and do not sell it, Get wisdom, instruction, and understanding.

²⁴The father of the righteous will greatly rejoice, And he who fathers a wise son will be glad in him.

²⁵Let your father and your mother be glad, And let her rejoice who gave birth to you.

²⁶Give me your heart, my son, And let your eyes delight in my ways.

²⁷For a prostitute is a deep pit, And a strange woman is a narrow well.

²⁸Certainly she lurks as a robber, And increases the treacherous among mankind.

²⁹Who has woe? Who has sorrow? Who has contentions? Who has complaining? Who has wounds without cause? Who has red eyes?

³⁰Those who linger long over wine, Those who go to taste mixed wine.

³¹Do not look at wine when it is red, When it sparkles in the cup, When it goes down smoothly;

³²In the end it bites like a snake And stings like a viper.

³³Your eyes will see strange things And your mind will say perverse things.

³⁴And you will be like one who lies down in the middle of the sea, Or like one who lies down on the top of a mast.

³⁵“They struck me, but I did not become ill; They beat me, but I did not know it. When will I awake? I will seek another drink.”

¹Now it happened in the days of Ahasuerus, the Ahasuerus who reigned from India to Cush over 127 provinces,

²in those days as King Ahasuerus sat on his royal throne which was at the citadel in Susa,

³in the third year of his reign he held a banquet for all his officials and attendants, the army officers of Persia and Media, the nobles and the officials of his provinces, in his presence.

⁴At that time he displayed the riches of his royal glory and the splendor of his great majesty for many days, 180 days.

⁵When these days were finished, the king held a banquet lasting seven days for all the people who were present at the citadel in Susa, from the greatest to the least, in the courtyard of the garden of the king’s palace.

⁶There were curtains of fine white and violet linen held by cords of fine purple linen on silver rings and marble columns, and couches of gold and silver on a mosaic floor of porphyry, marble, mother-of-pearl, and mineral stones.

⁷Drinks were served in golden vessels of various kinds, and the royal wine was plentiful in proportion to the king’s bounty.

⁸But the drinking was done according to the royal law; there was no compulsion, for so the king had given orders to each official of his household, that he was to do as each person pleased.

⁹Queen Vashti also held a banquet for the women in the palace which belonged to King Ahasuerus.

¹⁰On the seventh day, when the heart of the king was cheerful with wine, he ordered Mehuman, Biztha, Harbona, Bigtha, Abagtha, Zethar, and Carkas, the seven eunuchs who served in the presence of King Ahasuerus,

¹¹to bring Queen Vashti before the king with her royal turban in order to display her beauty to the people and the officials, for she was beautiful.

¹²But Queen Vashti refused to come at the king’s order delivered by the eunuchs. So the king became very angry, and his wrath burned within him.

¹³Then the king said to the wise men who understood the times—for it was the custom of the king to speak this way before all who knew Persian law and justice

¹⁴and were close to him, namely, Carshena, Shethar, Admatha, Tarshish, Meres, Marsena, and Memucan, the seven officials of Persia and Media who had access to the king’s presence and sat in the first place in the kingdom—

¹⁵“According to law, what is to be done with Queen Vashti, since she did not obey the command of King Ahasuerus delivered by the eunuchs?”

¹⁶And in the presence of the king and the other officials, Memucan said, “Queen Vashti has wronged not only the king but also all the officials and all the peoples who are in all the provinces of King Ahasuerus.

¹⁷For the queen’s conduct will become known to all the women so as to make their own husbands despicable in their sight, when they say, ‘King Ahasuerus commanded that Queen Vashti be brought in to his presence, but she did not come.’

¹⁸And this day the wives of the officials of Persia and Media who have heard about the queen’s conduct will talk about it to all the king’s officials, and there will be plenty of contempt and anger.

¹⁹If it pleases the king, let a royal edict be issued by him and let it be written in the laws of Persia and Media so that it cannot be repealed, that Vashti may not come into the presence of King Ahasuerus, and let the king give her royal position to another who is more worthy than she.

²⁰When the king’s edict which he will make is heard throughout his kingdom, great as it is, then all women will give honor to their husbands, great and small.”

²¹Now this word pleased the king and the officials, and the king did as Memucan proposed.

²²So he sent letters to all the king’s provinces, to each province according to its script and to every people according to their language, that every man was to be the ruler in his own house and the one who speaks in the language of his own people.

¹Then the word of the LORD of armies came, saying,

²“The LORD of armies says this: ‘I am exceedingly jealous for Zion, yes, with great wrath I am jealous for her.’

³The LORD says this: ‘I will return to Zion and dwell in the midst of Jerusalem. Then Jerusalem will be called the City of Truth, and the mountain of the LORD of armies will be called the Holy Mountain.’

⁴The LORD of armies says this: ‘Old men and old women will again sit in the public squares of Jerusalem, each person with his staff in his hand because of age.

⁵And the public squares of the city will be filled with boys and girls playing in its squares.’

⁶The LORD of armies says this: ‘If it is too difficult in the sight of the remnant of this people in those days, will it also be too difficult in My sight?’ declares the LORD of armies.

⁷The LORD of armies says this: ‘Behold, I am going to save My people from the land of the east and from the land of the west;

⁸and I will bring them back and they will live in the midst of Jerusalem; and they shall be My people, and I will be their God in truth and righteousness.’

⁹“The LORD of armies says this: ‘Let your hands be strong, you who are listening in these days to these words from the mouth of the prophets, those who spoke in the day that the foundation of the house of the LORD of armies was laid, so that the temple might be built.

¹⁰For before those days there was no wage for man nor any wage for animal; and for him who went out or came in there was no peace because of his enemies, and I sent all the people against one another.

¹¹But now I will not treat the remnant of this people as in the former days,’ declares the LORD of armies.

¹²‘For there will be the seed of peace: the vine will yield its fruit, the land will yield its produce, and the heavens will provide their dew; and I will give to the remnant of this people all these things as an inheritance.

¹³And it will come about that just as you were a curse among the nations, house of Judah and house of Israel, so I will save you that you may become a blessing. Do not fear; let your hands be strong.’

¹⁴“For this is what the LORD of armies says: ‘Just as I determined to do harm to you when your fathers provoked Me to anger,’ says the LORD of armies, ‘and I have not relented,

¹⁵so I have again determined in these days to do good to Jerusalem and to the house of Judah. Do not fear!

¹⁶These are the things which you shall do: speak the truth to one another; judge with truth and judgment for peace at your gates.

¹⁷Also let none of you devise evil in your heart against another, and do not love perjury; for all these things are what I hate,’ declares the LORD.”

¹⁸Then the word of the LORD of armies came to me, saying,

¹⁹“The LORD of armies says this: ‘The fast of the fourth, the fast of the fifth, the fast of the seventh, and the fast of the tenth months will become joy, jubilation, and cheerful festivals for the house of Judah; so love truth and peace.’

²⁰“The LORD of armies says this: ‘It will yet turn out that peoples will come, that is, the inhabitants of many cities.

²¹The inhabitants of one city will go to another, saying, “Let’s go at once to plead for the favor of the LORD, and to seek the LORD of armies; I also will go.”

²²So many peoples and mighty nations will come to seek the LORD of armies in Jerusalem, and to plead for the favor of the LORD.’

²³The LORD of armies says this: ‘In those days ten people from all the nations will grasp the garment of a Jew, saying, “Let us go with you, for we have heard that God is with you.” ’ ”

¹Now Paul also came to Derbe and to Lystra. And a disciple was there, named Timothy, the son of a Jewish woman who was a believer, but his father was a Greek,

²and he was well spoken of by the brothers and sisters who were in Lystra and Iconium.

³Paul wanted this man to leave with him; and he took him and circumcised him because of the Jews who were in those parts, for they all knew that his father was a Greek.

⁴Now while they were passing through the cities, they were delivering the ordinances for them to follow which had been determined by the apostles and elders in Jerusalem.

⁵So the churches were being strengthened in the faith, and were increasing in number daily.

⁶They passed through the Phrygian and Galatian region, after being forbidden by the Holy Spirit to speak the word in Asia;

⁷and after they came to Mysia, they were trying to go into Bithynia, and the Spirit of Jesus did not allow them;

⁸and passing by Mysia, they went down to Troas.

⁹And a vision appeared to Paul in the night: a man of Macedonia was standing and pleading with him, and saying, “Come over to Macedonia and help us.”

¹⁰When he had seen the vision, we immediately sought to leave for Macedonia, concluding that God had called us to preach the gospel to them.

¹¹So after setting sail from Troas, we ran a straight course to Samothrace, and on the following day to Neapolis;

¹²and from there to Philippi, which is a leading city of the district of Macedonia, a Roman colony; and we were spending some days in this city.

¹³And on the Sabbath day we went outside the gate to a riverside, where we were thinking that there was a place of prayer; and we sat down and began speaking to the women who had assembled.

¹⁴A woman named Lydia was listening; she was a seller of purple fabrics from the city of Thyatira, and a worshiper of God. The Lord opened her heart to respond to the things spoken by Paul.

¹⁵Now when she and her household had been baptized, she urged us, saying, “If you have judged me to be faithful to the Lord, come into my house and stay.” And she prevailed upon us.

¹⁶It happened that as we were going to the place of prayer, a slave woman who had a spirit of divination met us, who was bringing great profit to her masters by fortune-telling.

¹⁷She followed Paul and us and cried out repeatedly, saying, “These men are bond-servants of the Most High God, who are proclaiming to you a way of salvation.”

¹⁸Now she continued doing this for many days. But Paul was greatly annoyed, and he turned and said to the spirit, “I command you in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her!” And it came out at that very moment.

¹⁹But when her masters saw that their hope of profit was suddenly gone, they seized Paul and Silas and dragged them into the marketplace before the authorities,

²⁰and when they had brought them to the chief magistrates, they said, “These men, Jews as they are, are causing our city trouble,

²¹and they are proclaiming customs that are not lawful for us to accept or to practice, since we are Romans.”

²²The crowd joined in an attack against them, and the chief magistrates tore their robes off them and proceeded to order them to be beaten with rods.

²³When they had struck them with many blows, they threw them into prison, commanding the jailer to guard them securely;

²⁴and he, having received such a command, threw them into the inner prison and fastened their feet in the stocks.

²⁵Now about midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns of praise to God, and the prisoners were listening to them;

²⁶and suddenly there was a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison were shaken; and immediately all the doors were opened, and everyone’s chains were unfastened.

²⁷When the jailer awoke and saw the prison doors opened, he drew his sword and was about to kill himself, thinking that the prisoners had escaped.

²⁸But Paul called out with a loud voice, saying, “Do not harm yourself, for we are all here!”

²⁹And the jailer asked for lights and rushed in, and trembling with fear, he fell down before Paul and Silas;

³⁰and after he brought them out, he said, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?”

³¹They said, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and your household.”

³²And they spoke the word of God to him together with all who were in his house.

³³And he took them that very hour of the night and washed their wounds, and immediately he was baptized, he and all his household.

³⁴And he brought them into his house and set food before them, and was overjoyed, since he had become a believer in God together with his whole household.

³⁵Now when day came, the chief magistrates sent their officers, saying, “Release those men.”

³⁶And the jailer reported these words to Paul, saying, “The chief magistrates have sent word that you be released. So come out now and go in peace.”

³⁷But Paul said to them, “After beating us in public without due process—men who are Romans—they threw us into prison; and now they are releasing us secretly? No indeed! On the contrary, let them come in person and lead us out.”

³⁸The officers reported these words to the chief magistrates. And they became fearful when they heard that they were Romans,

³⁹and they came and pleaded with them, and when they had led them out, they repeatedly asked them to leave the city.

⁴⁰They left the prison and entered the house of Lydia, and when they saw the brothers and sisters, they encouraged them and departed.