Professor Horner’s Reading Plan

¹Now He looked up and saw the wealthy putting their gifts into the temple treasury.

²And He saw a poor widow putting in two lepta coins.

³And He said, “Truly I say to you, this poor widow put in more than all of them;

⁴for they allcontributed to theoffering from theirsurplus; but she, from her poverty, put in allthat she had to live on.”

⁵And while some were talking about the temple, that it was decorated with beautiful stones and vowed gifts, He said,

⁶“As for these things which you are observing, the days will come when there will not be left one stone uponanother, which will not be torn down.”

⁷They asked Him questions, saying, “Teacher, when therefore will these things happen? And what will be the sign when these things are about to take place?”

⁸And He said, “See to it that you are not misled; for many will come in My name, saying, ‘I am He,’ and, ‘The time is near.’ Do not go after them.

⁹And when you hear of wars and revolts, do not be alarmed; for these things must take place first, but the end will not follow immediately.”

¹⁰Then He continued by saying to them, “Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom,

¹¹and there will bemassive earthquakes, and in various places plagues and famines; and there will be terrible sights and greatsigns from heaven.

¹²“But before all these things, they will lay their hands on you and persecute you, turning you over to the synagogues and prisons, bringing you before kings and governors on account of My name.

¹³It will lead toan opportunity for your testimony.

¹⁴Somake up your minds not to prepare beforehand to defend yourselves;

¹⁵for I will provide youeloquence and wisdom which none of your adversaries will be able to oppose or refute.

¹⁶But you will be betrayed even by parents, brothers and sisters, other relatives, and friends, and they will put some of you to death,

¹⁷and you will be hated by all people because of My name.

¹⁸And yet not a hair of your head will perish.

¹⁹By your endurance you will gain yourlives.

²⁰“But when you see Jerusalem surrounded by armies, then recognize that her desolation is near.

²¹Then those who are in Judea must flee to the mountains, and those who are insidethe city must leave, and those who are in the country must not enterthe city;

²²because these are days of punishment, so that all things which have been written will be fulfilled.

²³Woe to those women who are pregnant, and to those who are nursing babies in those days; for there will be great distress upon theland, and wrath to this people;

²⁴and they will fall by the edge of the sword, and will be led captive into all the nations; and Jerusalem will be trampled underfoot by the Gentiles until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled.

²⁵“There will be signs in the sun and moon and stars, and on the earth distress among nations, in perplexity at the roaring of the sea and the waves,

²⁶people fainting from fear and the expectation of the things that are coming upon theworld; for the powers ofthe heavens will be shaken.

²⁷And then they will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory.

²⁸But when these things begin to take place, straighten up and lift up your heads, because your redemption is drawing near.”

²⁹And He told them a parable: “Look at the fig tree and all the trees:

³⁰as soon as they put forth leaves, you see for yourselves and know that summer is now near.

³¹So you too, when you see these things happening,recognize that the kingdom of God is near.

³²Truly I say to you, this generation will not pass away until all things take place.

³³Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will not pass away.

³⁴“But be on your guard, so that your hearts will not be weighed down with dissipation and drunkenness and the worries of life, and that this day will not come on you suddenly, like a trap;

³⁵for it will come upon all those who live on the face of all the earth.

³⁶But stay alert at all times, praying that you will have strength to escape all these things that are going to take place, and to stand before the Son of Man.”

³⁷Now during the day He was teaching in the temple, but at evening He would go out and spend the night on the mountain that is called Olivet.

³⁸And all the people would get up very early in the morning to come to Him in the temple to listen to Him.

¹Then the LORD said to Moses, “Now you shall see what I will do to Pharaoh; for under compulsion he will let them go, and under compulsion he will drive them out of his land.”

²God spoke further to Moses and said to him, “I am the LORD;

³and I appeared to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob as God Almighty, but by My name, LORD, I did not make Myself known to them.

⁴I also established My covenant with them, to give them the land of Canaan, the land in which they lived as strangers.

⁵Furthermore I have heard the groaning of the sons of Israel, because the Egyptians are holding them in bondage, and I have remembered My covenant.

⁶Say, therefore, to the sons of Israel, ‘I am the LORD, and I will bring you out from under the labors of the Egyptians, and I will rescue you from their bondage. I will also redeem you with an outstretched arm, and with great judgments.

⁷Then I will take you as My people, and I will be your God; and you shall know that I am the LORD your God, who brought you out from under the labors of the Egyptians.

⁸I will bring you to the land which I swore to give to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and I will give it to you as a possession; I am the LORD.’ ”

⁹So Moses said this to the sons of Israel, but they did not listen to Moses on account of their despondency and cruel bondage.

¹⁰Now the LORD spoke to Moses, saying,

¹¹“Go, tell Pharaoh king of Egypt to let the sons of Israel go out of his land.”

¹²But Moses spoke before the LORD, saying, “Behold, the sons of Israel have not listened to me; how then will Pharaoh listen to me, as I am unskilled in speech?”

¹³Nevertheless, the LORD spoke to Moses and to Aaron and gave them a command concerning the sons of Israel and Pharaoh king of Egypt, to bring the sons of Israel out of the land of Egypt.

¹⁴These are the heads of their fathers’ households. The sons of Reuben, Israel’s firstborn: Hanoch and Pallu, Hezron and Carmi; these are the families of Reuben.

¹⁵And the sons of Simeon: Jemuel, Jamin, Ohad, Jachin, Zohar, and Shaul the son of a Canaanite woman; these are the families of Simeon.

¹⁶And these are the names of the sons of Levi according to their generations: Gershon, Kohath, and Merari; and the length of Levi’s life was 137 years.

¹⁷The sons of Gershon: Libni and Shimei, according to their families.

¹⁸And the sons of Kohath: Amram, Izhar, Hebron, and Uzziel; and the length of Kohath’s life was 133 years.

¹⁹And the sons of Merari: Mahli and Mushi. These are the families of the Levites according to their generations.

²⁰Now Amram married his father’s sister Jochebed, and she bore him Aaron and Moses; and the length of Amram’s life was 137 years.

²¹And the sons of Izhar: Korah, Nepheg, and Zichri.

²²And the sons of Uzziel: Mishael, Elzaphan, and Sithri.

²³Aaron married Elisheba, the daughter of Amminadab, the sister of Nahshon, and she bore him Nadab and Abihu, Eleazar and Ithamar.

²⁴And the sons of Korah: Assir, Elkanah, and Abiasaph; these are the families of the Korahites.

²⁵Now Aaron’s son Eleazar married one of the daughters of Putiel, and she bore him Phinehas. These are the heads of the fathers’ households of the Levites according to their families.

²⁶It was the same Aaron and Moses to whom the LORD said, “Bring out the sons of Israel from the land of Egypt according to their multitudes.”

²⁷They were the ones who spoke to Pharaoh king of Egypt about bringing out the sons of Israel from Egypt; it was the same Moses and Aaron.

²⁸Now it came about on the day when the LORD spoke to Moses in the land of Egypt,

²⁹that the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, “I am the LORD; say to Pharaoh king of Egypt all that I say to you.”

³⁰But Moses said before the LORD, “Behold, I am unskilled in speech; how then will Pharaoh listen to me?”

¹I am telling the truth in Christ, I am not lying; my conscience testifies with me in the Holy Spirit,

²that I have great sorrow and unceasing grief in my heart.

³For I could wish that I myself were accursed, separated from Christ for the sake of my countrymen, my kinsmen according to the flesh,

⁴who are Israelites, to whom belongs the adoption as sons and daughters, the glory, the covenants, the giving of the Law, the temple service, and the promises;

⁵whose are the fathers, and from whom is the Christ according to the flesh, who is over all, God blessed forever. Amen.

⁶But it is not as though the word of God has failed. For they are not all Israel who are descended from Israel;

⁷nor are they all children because they are Abraham’s descendants, but: “THROUGH ISAAC YOUR DESCENDANTS SHALL BE NAMED.”

⁸That is, it is not the children of the flesh who are children of God, but the children of the promise are regarded as descendants.

⁹For this is the word of promise: “AT THIS TIME I WILL COME, AND SARAH WILL HAVE A SON.”

¹⁰And not only that, but there was also Rebekah, when she had conceived twins by one man, our father Isaac;

¹¹for though the twins were not yet born and had not done anything good or bad, so that God’s purpose according to His choice would stand, not because of works but because of Him who calls,

¹²it was said to her, “THE OLDER WILL SERVE THE YOUNGER.”

¹³Just as it is written: “JACOB I HAVE LOVED, BUT ESAU I HAVE HATED.”

¹⁴What shall we say then? There is no injustice with God, is there? Far from it!

¹⁵For He says to Moses, “I WILL HAVE MERCY ON WHOMEVER I HAVE MERCY, AND I WILL SHOW COMPASSION TO WHOMEVER I SHOW COMPASSION.”

¹⁶So then, it does not depend on the person who wants it nor the one who runs, but on God who has mercy.

¹⁷For the Scripture says to Pharaoh, “FOR THIS VERY REASON I RAISED YOU UP, IN ORDER TO DEMONSTRATE MY POWER IN YOU, AND THAT MY NAME MIGHT BE PROCLAIMED THROUGHOUT THE EARTH.”

¹⁸So then He has mercy on whom He desires, and He hardens whom He desires.

¹⁹You will say to me then, “Why does He still find fault? For who has resisted His will?”

²⁰On the contrary, who are you, you foolish person, who answers back to God? The thing molded will not say to the molder, “Why did you make me like this,” will it?

²¹Or does the potter not have a right over the clay, to make from the same lump one object for honorable use, and another for common use?

²²What if God, although willing to demonstrate His wrath and to make His power known, endured with great patience objects of wrath prepared for destruction?

²³And He did so to make known the riches of His glory upon objects of mercy, which He prepared beforehand for glory,

²⁴namely us, whom He also called, not only from among Jews, but also from among Gentiles,

²⁵as He also says in Hosea: “I WILL CALL THOSE WHO WERE NOT MY PEOPLE, ‘MY PEOPLE,’ AND HER WHO WAS NOT BELOVED, ‘BELOVED.’ ”

²⁶“AND IT SHALL BE THAT IN THE PLACE WHERE IT WAS SAID TO THEM, ‘YOU ARE NOT MY PEOPLE,’ THERE THEY SHALL BE CALLED SONS OF THE LIVING GOD.”

²⁷Isaiah cries out concerning Israel, “THOUGH THE NUMBER OF THE SONS OF ISRAEL MAY BE LIKE THE SAND OF THE SEA, ONLY the remnant will be saved;

²⁸FOR THE LORD WILL EXECUTE HIS WORD ON THE EARTH, THOROUGHLY AND QUICKLY.”

²⁹And just as Isaiah foretold: “IF THE LORD OF ARMIES HAD NOT LEFT US DESCENDANTS, WE WOULD HAVE BECOME LIKE SODOM, AND WOULD HAVE BEEN LIKE GOMORRAH.”

³⁰What shall we say then? That Gentiles, who did not pursue righteousness, attained righteousness, but the righteousness that is by faith;

³¹however, Israel, pursuing a law of righteousness, did not arrive at that law.

³²Why? Because they did not pursue it by faith, but as though they could by works. They stumbled over the stumbling stone,

³³just as it is written: “BEHOLD, I AM LAYING IN ZION A STONE OF STUMBLING AND A ROCK OF OFFENSE, AND THE ONE WHO BELIEVES IN HIM WILL NOT BE PUT TO SHAME.”

¹I saw in the right hand of Him who sat on the throne a scroll written inside and on the back, sealed up with seven seals.

²And I saw a strong angel proclaiming with a loud voice, “Who is worthy to open the scroll and to break its seals?”

³And no one in heaven or on the earth or under the earth was able to open the scroll or to look into it.

⁴Then I began to weep greatly because no one was found worthy to open the scroll or to look into it.

⁵And one of the elders *said to me, “Stop weeping; behold, the Lion that is from the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has overcome so as to be able to open the scroll and its seven seals.”

⁶And I saw between the throne (with the four living creatures) and the elders a Lamb standing, as if slaughtered, having seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven spirits of God sent out into all the earth.

⁷And He came and took the scroll out of the right hand of Him who sat on the throne.

⁸When He had taken the scroll, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb, each one holding a harp and golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints.

⁹And they *sang a new song, saying, “Worthy are You to take the scroll and to break its seals; for You were slaughtered, and You purchased people for God with Your blood from every tribe, language, people, and nation.

¹⁰You have made them into a kingdom and priests to our God, and they will reign upon the earth.”

¹¹Then I looked, and I heard the voices of many angels around the throne and the living creatures and the elders; and the number of them was myriads of myriads, and thousands of thousands,

¹²saying with a loud voice, “Worthy is the Lamb that was slaughtered to receive power, wealth, wisdom, might, honor, glory, and blessing.”

¹³And I heard every created thing which is in heaven, or on the earth, or under the earth, or on the sea, and all the things in them, saying, “To Him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb be the blessing, the honor, the glory, and the dominion forever and ever.”

¹⁴And the four living creatures were saying, “Amen.” And the elders fell down and worshiped.

¹“On my bed night after night I sought him Whom my soul loves; I sought him but did not find him.

²‘I must arise now and go around in the city; In the streets and in the public squares I must seek him whom my soul loves.’ I sought him but did not find him.

³The watchmen who make the rounds in the city found me, And I said, ‘Have you seen him whom my soul loves?’

⁴Hardly had I left them When I found him whom my soul loves; I held on to him and would not let him go Until I had brought him to my mother’s house, And into the room of her who conceived me.”

⁵“Swear to me, you daughters of Jerusalem, By the gazelles or by the does of the field, That you will not disturb or awaken my love Until she pleases.”

⁶“What is this coming up from the wilderness Like columns of smoke, Perfumed with myrrh and frankincense, With all the scented powders of the merchant?

⁷Behold, it is the traveling couch of Solomon; Sixty warriors around it, Of the warriors of Israel.

⁸All of them are wielders of the sword, Expert in war; Each man has his sword at his side, Guarding against the terrors of the night.

⁹King Solomon has made for himself a sedan chair From the timber of Lebanon.

¹⁰He made its posts of silver, Its back of gold And its seat of purple fabric, With its interior lovingly inlaid By the daughters of Jerusalem.

¹¹Go out, you daughters of Zion, And look at King Solomon with the crown With which his mother has crowned him On the day of his wedding, And on the day of the joy of his heart.”

¹The LORD reigns, He is clothed with majesty; The LORD has clothed and encircled Himself with strength. Indeed, the world is firmly established; it will not be moved.

²Your throne is established from of old; You are from eternity.

³The floods have lifted up, LORD, The floods have lifted up their voice, The floods lift up their pounding waves.

⁴More than the sounds of many waters, Than the mighty breakers of the sea, The LORD on high is mighty.

⁵Your testimonies are fully confirmed; Holiness is pleasing to Your house, LORD, forevermore.

¹Like snow in summer and like rain in harvest, So honor is not fitting for a fool.

²Like a sparrow in its flitting, like a swallow in its flying, So a curse without cause does not come to rest.

³A whip is for the horse, a bridle for the donkey, And a rod for the back of fools.

⁴Do not answer a fool according to his foolishness, Or you will also be like him.

⁵Answer a fool as his foolishness deserves, So that he will not be wise in his own eyes.

⁶One who sends a message by the hand of a fool Chops off his own feet and drinks violence.

⁷Like useless legs to one who cannot walk, So is a proverb in the mouths of fools.

⁸Like one who binds a stone in a sling, So is one who gives honor to a fool.

⁹Like a thorn that sticks in the hand of a heavy drinker, So is a proverb in the mouths of fools.

¹⁰Like an archer who wounds everyone, So is one who hires a fool or hires those who pass by.

¹¹Like a dog that returns to its vomit, So is a fool who repeats his foolishness.

¹²Do you see a person wise in his own eyes? There is more hope for a fool than for him.

¹³A lazy one says, “There is a lion on the road! A lion is in the public square!”

¹⁴As the door turns on its hinges, So does a lazy one on his bed.

¹⁵A lazy one buries his hand in the dish; He is weary of bringing it to his mouth again.

¹⁶A lazy one is wiser in his own eyes Than seven people who can give a discreet answer.

¹⁷Like one who takes a dog by the ears, So is one who passes by and meddles with strife not belonging to him.

¹⁸Like a maniac who shoots Flaming arrows, arrows, and death,

¹⁹So is a person who deceives his neighbor, And says, “Was I not joking?”

²⁰For lack of wood the fire goes out, And where there is no gossiper, quarreling quiets down.

²¹Like charcoal to hot embers and wood to fire, So is a contentious person to kindle strife.

²²The words of a gossiper are like dainty morsels, And they go down into the innermost parts of the body.

²³Like an earthenware vessel overlaid with silver impurities Are burning lips and a wicked heart.

²⁴One who hates disguises it with his lips, But he harbors deceit in his heart.

²⁵When he speaks graciously, do not believe him, Because there are seven abominations in his heart.

²⁶Though his hatred covers itself with deception, His wickedness will be revealed in the assembly.

²⁷One who digs a pit will fall into it, And one who rolls a stone, it will come back on him.

²⁸A lying tongue hates those it crushes, And a flattering mouth works ruin.

¹When Mordecai learned of everything that had been done, he tore his clothes, put on sackcloth and ashes, and went out into the midst of the city and wailed loudly and bitterly.

²And he came as far as the king’s gate, for no one was to enter the king’s gate clothed in sackcloth.

³In each and every province where the command and decree of the king came, there was great mourning among the Jews, with fasting, weeping, and mourning rites; and many had sackcloth and ashes spread out as a bed.

⁴Then Esther’s attendants and her eunuchs came and informed her, and the queen was seized by great fear. And she sent garments to clothe Mordecai so that he would remove his sackcloth from him, but he did not accept them.

⁵Then Esther summoned Hathach from the king’s eunuchs, whom the king had appointed to attend her, and ordered him to go to Mordecai to learn what this mourning was and why it was happening.

⁶So Hathach went out to Mordecai in the city square, in front of the king’s gate.

⁷Mordecai told him everything that had happened to him, and the exact amount of money that Haman had promised to pay to the king’s treasuries for the elimination of the Jews.

⁸He also gave him a copy of the text of the edict which had been issued in Susa for their annihilation, so that he might show Esther and inform her, and to order her to go in to the king to implore his favor and plead with him for her people.

⁹So Hathach came back and reported Mordecai’s words to Esther.

¹⁰Then Esther spoke to Hathach and ordered him to reply to Mordecai:

¹¹“All the king’s servants and the people of the king’s provinces know that for any man or woman who comes to the king in the inner courtyard, who is not summoned, he has only one law, that he be put to death, unless the king holds out to him the golden scepter so that he may live. And I have not been summoned to come to the king for these thirty days.”

¹²And they reported Esther’s words to Mordecai.

¹³Then Mordecai told them to reply to Esther, “Do not imagine that you in the king’s palace can escape any more than all the other Jews.

¹⁴For if you keep silent at this time, liberation and rescue will arise for the Jews from another place, and you and your father’s house will perish. And who knows whether you have not attained royalty for such a time as this?”

¹⁵Then Esther told them to reply to Mordecai,

¹⁶“Go, gather all the Jews who are found in Susa, and fast for me; do not eat or drink for three days, night or day. I and my attendants also will fast in the same way. And then I will go in to the king, which is not in accordance with the law; and if I perish, I perish.”

¹⁷So Mordecai went away and did just as Esther had commanded him.

¹Open your doors, Lebanon, So that a fire may feed on your cedars.

²Wail, juniper, because the cedar has fallen, For the magnificent trees have been destroyed; Wail, oaks of Bashan, Because the impenetrable forest has come down.

³There is a sound of the shepherds’ wail, For their splendor is ruined; There is a sound of the young lions’ roar, For the pride of the Jordan is ruined.

⁴This is what the LORD my God says: “Pasture the flock doomed to slaughter.

⁵Those who buy them slaughter them and go unpunished, and each of those who sell them says, ‘Blessed be the LORD, for I have become rich!’ And their own shepherds have no compassion for them.

⁶For I will no longer have compassion for the inhabitants of the land,” declares the LORD; “but behold, I will let the people fall, each into another’s power and into the power of his king; and they will crush the land, and I will not rescue them from their power.”

⁷So I pastured the flock doomed to slaughter, therefore also the afflicted of the flock. And I took for myself two staffs: the one I called Favor, and the other I called Union; so I pastured the flock.

⁸Then I did away with the three shepherds in one month, for my soul was impatient with them, and their soul also was tired of me.

⁹Then I said, “I will not pasture you. What is to die, let it die, and what is to perish, let it perish; and let those who are left eat one another’s flesh.”

¹⁰And I took my staff Favor and cut it in pieces, to break my covenant which I had made with all the peoples.

¹¹So it was broken on that day, and so the afflicted of the flock who were watching me realized that it was the word of the LORD.

¹²And I said to them, “If it is good in your sight, give me my wages; but if not, never mind!” So they weighed out thirty shekels of silver as my wages.

¹³Then the LORD said to me, “Throw it to the potter, that magnificent price at which I was valued by them.” So I took the thirty shekels of silver and threw them to the potter in the house of the LORD.

¹⁴Then I cut in pieces my second staff Union, to break the brotherhood between Judah and Israel.

¹⁵And the LORD said to me, “Take again for yourself the equipment of a foolish shepherd.

¹⁶For behold, I am going to raise up a shepherd in the land who will not care for the perishing, seek the scattered, heal the broken, or provide for the one who is exhausted, but will devour the flesh of the fat sheep and tear off their hoofs.

¹⁷Woe to the worthless shepherd Who abandons the flock! A sword will be on his arm And on his right eye! His arm will be totally withered, And his right eye will be blind.”

¹Now it happened that while Apollos was in Corinth, Paul passed through the upper country and came to Ephesus, and found some disciples.

²He said to them, “Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?” And they said to him, “On the contrary, we have not even heard if there is a Holy Spirit.”

³And he said, “Into what then were you baptized?” And they said, “Into John’s baptism.”

⁴Paul said, “John baptized with a baptism of repentance, telling the people to believe in Him who was coming after him, that is, in Jesus.”

⁵When they heard this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus.

⁶And when Paul had laid hands upon them, the Holy Spirit came on them and they began speaking with tongues and prophesying.

⁷There were about twelve men in all.

⁸And he entered the synagogue and continued speaking out boldly for three months, having discussions and persuading them about the kingdom of God.

⁹But when some were becoming hardened and disobedient, speaking evil of the Way before the people, he withdrew from them and took the disciples away with him, and had discussions daily in the school of Tyrannus.

¹⁰This took place for two years, so that all who lived in Asia heard the word of the Lord, both Jews and Greeks.

¹¹God was performing extraordinary miracles by the hands of Paul,

¹²so that handkerchiefs or aprons were even carried from his body to the sick, and the diseases left them and the evil spirits went out.

¹³But also some of the Jewish exorcists, who went from place to place, attempted to use the name of the Lord Jesus over those who had the evil spirits, saying, “I order you in the name of Jesus whom Paul preaches!”

¹⁴Now there were seven sons of Sceva, a Jewish chief priest, doing this.

¹⁵But the evil spirit responded and said to them, “I recognize Jesus, and I know of Paul, but who are you?”

¹⁶And the man in whom was the evil spirit, pounced on them and subdued all of them and overpowered them, so that they fled out of that house naked and wounded.

¹⁷This became known to all who lived in Ephesus, both Jews and Greeks; and fear fell upon them all and the name of the Lord Jesus was being magnified.

¹⁸Also many of those who had believed kept coming, confessing and disclosing their practices.

¹⁹And many of those who practiced magic brought their books together and began burning them in the sight of everyone; and they added up the prices of the books and found it to be fifty thousand pieces of silver.

²⁰So the word of the Lord was growing and prevailing mightily.

²¹Now after these things were finished, Paul resolved in the Spirit to go to Jerusalem after he had passed through Macedonia and Achaia, saying, “After I have been there, I must also see Rome.”

²²And after he sent into Macedonia two of those who assisted him, Timothy and Erastus, he himself stayed in Asia for a while.

²³About that time a major disturbance occurred in regard to the Way.

²⁴For a man named Demetrius, a silversmith who made silver shrines of Artemis, was bringing considerable business to the craftsmen;

²⁵he gathered these men together with the workmen of similar trades, and said, “Men, you know that our prosperity depends upon this business.

²⁶You see and hear that not only in Ephesus, but in almost all of Asia, this Paul has persuaded and turned away a considerable number of people, saying that gods made by hands are not gods at all.

²⁷Not only is there danger that this trade of ours will fall into disrepute, but also that the temple of the great goddess Artemis will be regarded as worthless, and that she whom all of Asia and the world worship will even be dethroned from her magnificence.”

²⁸When they heard this and were filled with rage, they began shouting, saying, “Great is Artemis of the Ephesians!”

²⁹The city was filled with the confusion, and they rushed together into the theater, dragging along Gaius and Aristarchus, Paul’s Macedonian traveling companions.

³⁰And when Paul wanted to go into the assembly, the disciples would not let him.

³¹Also some of the Asiarchs who were friends of his sent word to him and repeatedly urged him not to venture into the theater.

³²So then, some were shouting one thing and some another, for the assembly was in confusion and the majority did not know for what reason they had come together.

³³Some of the crowd concluded it was Alexander, since the Jews had put him forward; and having motioned with his hand, Alexander was intending to make a defense to the assembly.

³⁴But when they recognized that he was a Jew, a single outcry arose from them all as they shouted for about two hours, “Great is Artemis of the Ephesians!”

³⁵After quieting the crowd, the town clerk *said, “Men of Ephesus, what person is there after all who does not know that the city of the Ephesians is guardian of the temple of the great Artemis and of the image which fell down from the sky?

³⁶So, since these are undeniable facts, you ought to keep calm and to do nothing rash.

³⁷For you have brought these men here who are neither temple robbers nor blasphemers of our goddess.

³⁸So then, if Demetrius and the craftsmen who are with him have a complaint against anyone, the courts are in session and proconsuls are available; have them bring charges against one another.

³⁹But if you want anything beyond this, it shall be settled in the lawful assembly.

⁴⁰For indeed, we are in danger of being accused of a riot in connection with today’s events, since there is no real reason for it, and in this connection we will be unable to account for this disorderly gathering.”

⁴¹After saying this he dismissed the assembly.