Professor Horner’s Reading Plan

¹Then their whole assembly rose up and brought him before Pilate.

²They began to accuse him, saying, “We found this man misleading our nation, opposing payment of taxes to Caesar, and saying that he himself is the Messiah, a king.”

³So Pilate asked him, “Are you the king of the Jews?” He answered him, “You say so.”

⁴Pilate then told the chief priests and the crowds, “I find no grounds for charging this man.”

⁵But they kept insisting, “He stirs up the people, teaching throughout all Judea, from Galilee where he started even to here.”

⁶When Pilate heard this, he asked if the man was a Galilean.

⁷Finding that he was under Herod’s jurisdiction, he sent him to Herod, who was also in Jerusalem during those days.

⁸Herod was very glad to see Jesus; for a long time he had wanted to see him because he had heard about him and was hoping to see some miracle performed by him.

⁹So he kept asking him questions, but Jesus did not answer him.

¹⁰The chief priests and the scribes stood by, vehemently accusing him.

¹¹Then Herod, with his soldiers, treated him with contempt, mocked him, dressed him in bright clothing, and sent him back to Pilate.

¹²That very day Herod and Pilate became friends. Previously, they had been enemies.

¹³Pilate called together the chief priests, the leaders, and the people,

¹⁴and said to them, “You have brought me this man as one who misleads the people. But in fact, after examining him in your presence, I have found no grounds to charge this man with those things you accuse him of.

¹⁵Neither has Herod, because he sent him back to us. Clearly, he has done nothing to deserve death.

¹⁶Therefore, I will have him whipped and then release him.”

¹⁷

¹⁸Then they all cried out together, “Take this man away! Release Barabbas to us!”

¹⁹(He had been thrown into prison for a rebellion that had taken place in the city, and for murder.)

²⁰Wanting to release Jesus, Pilate addressed them again,

²¹but they kept shouting, “Crucify! Crucify him!”

²²A third time he said to them, “Why? What has this man done wrong? I have found in him no grounds for the death penalty. Therefore, I will have him whipped and then release him.”

²³But they kept up the pressure, demanding with loud voices that he be crucified, and their voices won out.

²⁴So Pilate decided to grant their demand

²⁵and released the one they were asking for, who had been thrown into prison for rebellion and murder. But he handed Jesus over to their will.

²⁶As they led him away, they seized Simon, a Cyrenian, who was coming in from the country, and laid the cross on him to carry behind Jesus.

²⁷A large crowd of people followed him, including women who were mourning and lamenting him.

²⁸But turning to them, Jesus said, “Daughters of Jerusalem, do not weep for me, but weep for yourselves and your children.

²⁹Look, the days are coming when they will say, ‘Blessed are the women without children, the wombs that never bore, and the breasts that never nursed!’

³⁰Then they will begin to say to the mountains, ‘Fall on us! ’ and to the hills, ‘Cover us!’

³¹For if they do these things when the wood is green, what will happen when it is dry?”

³²Two others — criminals  — were also led away to be executed with him.

³³When they arrived at the place called The Skull, they crucified him there, along with the criminals, one on the right and one on the left.

³⁴Then Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, because they do not know what they are doing.” And they divided his clothes and cast lots.

³⁵The people stood watching, and even the leaders were scoffing: “He saved others; let him save himself if this is God’s Messiah, the Chosen One!”

³⁶The soldiers also mocked him. They came offering him sour wine

³⁷and said, “If you are the King of the Jews, save yourself!”

³⁸An inscription was above him: THIS IS THE KING OF THE JEWS.

³⁹Then one of the criminals hanging there began to yell insults at him: “Aren’t you the Messiah? Save yourself and us!”

⁴⁰But the other answered, rebuking him: “Don’t you even fear God, since you are undergoing the same punishment?

⁴¹We are punished justly, because we’re getting back what we deserve for the things we did, but this man has done nothing wrong.”

⁴²Then he said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.”

⁴³And he said to him, “Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in paradise.”

⁴⁴It was now about noon, and darkness came over the whole land until three,

⁴⁵because the sun’s light failed. The curtain of the sanctuary was split down the middle.

⁴⁶And Jesus called out with a loud voice, “Father, into your hands I entrust my spirit.” Saying this, he breathed his last.

⁴⁷When the centurion saw what happened, he began to glorify God, saying, “This man really was righteous!”

⁴⁸All the crowds that had gathered for this spectacle, when they saw what had taken place, went home, striking their chests.

⁴⁹But all who knew him, including the women who had followed him from Galilee, stood at a distance, watching these things.

⁵⁰There was a good and righteous man named Joseph, a member of the Sanhedrin,

⁵¹who had not agreed with their plan and action. He was from Arimathea, a Judean town, and was looking forward to the kingdom of God.

⁵²He approached Pilate and asked for Jesus’s body.

⁵³Taking it down, he wrapped it in fine linen and placed it in a tomb cut into the rock, where no one had ever been placed.

⁵⁴It was the preparation day, and the Sabbath was about to begin.

⁵⁵The women who had come with him from Galilee followed along and observed the tomb and how his body was placed.

⁵⁶Then they returned and prepared spices and perfumes. And they rested on the Sabbath according to the commandment.

¹Then the LORD said to Moses, “Go in to Pharaoh and tell him: This is what the LORD says: Let my people go, so that they may worship me.

²But if you refuse to let them go, then I will plague all your territory with frogs.

³The Nile will swarm with frogs; they will come up and go into your palace, into your bedroom and on your bed, into the houses of your officials and your people, and into your ovens and kneading bowls.

⁴The frogs will come up on you, your people, and all your officials.”

⁵The LORD then said to Moses, “Tell Aaron: Stretch out your hand with your staff over the rivers, canals, and ponds, and cause the frogs to come up onto the land of Egypt.”

⁶When Aaron stretched out his hand over the waters of Egypt, the frogs came up and covered the land of Egypt.

⁷But the magicians did the same thing by their occult practices and brought frogs up onto the land of Egypt.

⁸Pharaoh summoned Moses and Aaron and said, “Appeal to the LORD to remove the frogs from me and my people. Then I will let the people go and they can sacrifice to the LORD.”

⁹Moses said to Pharaoh, “You may have the honor of choosing. When should I appeal on behalf of you, your officials, and your people, that the frogs be taken away from you and your houses, and remain only in the Nile?”

¹⁰“Tomorrow,” he answered. Moses replied, “As you have said, so that you may know there is no one like the LORD our God,

¹¹the frogs will go away from you, your houses, your officials, and your people. The frogs will remain only in the Nile.”

¹²After Moses and Aaron went out from Pharaoh, Moses cried out to the LORD for help concerning the frogs that he had brought against Pharaoh.

¹³The LORD did as Moses had said: the frogs in the houses, courtyards, and fields died.

¹⁴They piled them in countless heaps, and there was a terrible odor in the land.

¹⁵But when Pharaoh saw there was relief, he hardened his heart and would not listen to them, as the LORD had said.

¹⁶Then the LORD said to Moses, “Tell Aaron: Stretch out your staff and strike the dust of the land, and it will become gnats throughout the land of Egypt.”

¹⁷And they did this. Aaron stretched out his hand with his staff, and when he struck the dust of the land, gnats were on people and animals. All the dust of the land became gnats throughout the land of Egypt.

¹⁸The magicians tried to produce gnats using their occult practices, but they could not. The gnats remained on people and animals.

¹⁹“This is the finger of God,” the magicians said to Pharaoh. But Pharaoh’s heart was hard, and he would not listen to them, as the LORD had said.

²⁰The LORD said to Moses, “Get up early in the morning and present yourself to Pharaoh when you see him going out to the water. Tell him: This is what the LORD says: Let my people go, so that they may worship me.

²¹But if you will not let my people go, then I will send swarms of flies against you, your officials, your people, and your houses. The Egyptians’ houses will swarm with flies, and so will the land where they live.

²²But on that day I will give special treatment to the land of Goshen, where my people are living; no flies will be there. This way you will know that I, the LORD, am in the land.

²³I will make a distinction between my people and your people. This sign will take place tomorrow.”

²⁴And the LORD did this. Thick swarms of flies went into Pharaoh’s palace and his officials’ houses. Throughout Egypt the land was ruined because of the swarms of flies.

²⁵Then Pharaoh summoned Moses and Aaron and said, “Go sacrifice to your God within the country.”

²⁶But Moses said, “It would not be right to do that, because what we will sacrifice to the LORD our God is detestable to the Egyptians. If we sacrifice what the Egyptians detest in front of them, won’t they stone us?

²⁷We must go a distance of three days into the wilderness and sacrifice to the LORD our God as he instructs us.”

²⁸Pharaoh responded, “I will let you go and sacrifice to the LORD your God in the wilderness, but don’t go very far. Make an appeal for me.”

²⁹“As soon as I leave you,” Moses said, “I will appeal to the LORD, and tomorrow the swarms of flies will depart from Pharaoh, his officials, and his people. But Pharaoh must not act deceptively again by refusing to let the people go and sacrifice to the LORD.”

³⁰Then Moses left Pharaoh’s presence and appealed to the LORD.

³¹The LORD did as Moses had said: He removed the swarms of flies from Pharaoh, his officials, and his people; not one was left.

³²But Pharaoh hardened his heart this time also and did not let the people go.

¹I ask, then, has God rejected his people? Absolutely not! For I too am an Israelite, a descendant of Abraham, from the tribe of Benjamin.

²God has not rejected his people whom he foreknew. Or don’t you know what the Scripture says in the passage about Elijah — how he pleads with God against Israel?

³Lord, they have killed your prophets and torn down your altars. I am the only one left, and they are trying to take my life!

⁴But what was God’s answer to him? I have left seven thousand for myself who have not bowed down to Baal.

⁵In the same way, then, there is also at the present time a remnant chosen by grace.

⁶Now if by grace, then it is not by works; otherwise grace ceases to be grace.

⁷What then? Israel did not find what it was looking for, but the elect did find it. The rest were hardened,

⁸as it is written, God gave them a spirit of stupor, eyes that cannot see and ears that cannot hear, to this day.

⁹And David says, Let their table become a snare and a trap, a pitfall and a retribution to them.

¹⁰Let their eyes be darkened so that they cannot see, and their backs be bent continually.

¹¹I ask, then, have they stumbled so as to fall? Absolutely not! On the contrary, by their transgression, salvation has come to the Gentiles to make Israel jealous.

¹²Now if their transgression brings riches for the world, and their failure riches for the Gentiles, how much more will their fullness bring!

¹³Now I am speaking to you Gentiles. Insofar as I am an apostle to the Gentiles, I magnify my ministry,

¹⁴if I might somehow make my own people jealous and save some of them.

¹⁵For if their rejection brings reconciliation to the world, what will their acceptance mean but life from the dead?

¹⁶Now if the firstfruits are holy, so is the whole batch. And if the root is holy, so are the branches.

¹⁷Now if some of the branches were broken off, and you, though a wild olive branch, were grafted in among them and have come to share in the rich root of the cultivated olive tree,

¹⁸do not boast that you are better than those branches. But if you do boast — you do not sustain the root, but the root sustains you.

¹⁹Then you will say, “Branches were broken off so that I might be grafted in.”

²⁰True enough; they were broken off because of unbelief, but you stand by faith. Do not be arrogant, but beware,

²¹because if God did not spare the natural branches, he will not spare you either.

²²Therefore, consider God’s kindness and severity: severity toward those who have fallen but God’s kindness toward you — if you remain in his kindness. Otherwise you too will be cut off.

²³And even they, if they do not remain in unbelief, will be grafted in, because God has the power to graft them in again.

²⁴For if you were cut off from your native wild olive tree and against nature were grafted into a cultivated olive tree, how much more will these — the natural branches — be grafted into their own olive tree?

²⁵I don’t want you to be ignorant of this mystery, brothers and sisters, so that you will not be conceited: A partial hardening has come upon Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in.

²⁶And in this way all Israel will be saved, as it is written, The Deliverer will come from Zion; he will turn godlessness away from Jacob.

²⁷And this will be my covenant with them when I take away their sins.

²⁸Regarding the gospel, they are enemies for your advantage, but regarding election, they are loved because of the patriarchs,

²⁹since God’s gracious gifts and calling are irrevocable.

³⁰As you once disobeyed God but now have received mercy through their disobedience,

³¹so they too have now disobeyed, resulting in mercy to you, so that they also may now receive mercy.

³²For God has imprisoned all in disobedience so that he may have mercy on all.

³³Oh, the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and of the knowledge of God! How unsearchable his judgments and untraceable his ways!

³⁴For who has known the mind of the Lord? Or who has been his counselor?

³⁵And who has ever given to God, that he should be repaid?

³⁶For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be the glory forever. Amen.

¹After this I saw four angels standing at the four corners of the earth, restraining the four winds of the earth so that no wind could blow on the earth or on the sea or on any tree.

²Then I saw another angel rising up from the east, who had the seal of the living God. He cried out in a loud voice to the four angels who were allowed to harm the earth and the sea:

³“Don’t harm the earth or the sea or the trees until we seal the servants of our God on their foreheads.”

⁴And I heard the number of the sealed: 144,000 sealed from every tribe of the Israelites:

⁵12,000 sealed from the tribe of Judah, 12,000 from the tribe of Reuben, 12,000 from the tribe of Gad,

⁶12,000 from the tribe of Asher, 12,000 from the tribe of Naphtali, 12,000 from the tribe of Manasseh,

⁷12,000 from the tribe of Simeon, 12,000 from the tribe of Levi, 12,000 from the tribe of Issachar,

⁸12,000 from the tribe of Zebulun, 12,000 from the tribe of Joseph, 12,000 sealed from the tribe of Benjamin.

⁹After this I looked, and there was a vast multitude from every nation, tribe, people, and language, which no one could number, standing before the throne and before the Lamb. They were clothed in white robes with palm branches in their hands.

¹⁰And they cried out in a loud voice: Salvation belongs to our God, who is seated on the throne, and to the Lamb!

¹¹All the angels stood around the throne, and along with the elders and the four living creatures they fell facedown before the throne and worshiped God,

¹²saying, Amen! Blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving and honor and power and strength be to our God forever and ever. Amen.

¹³Then one of the elders asked me, “Who are these people in white robes, and where did they come from?”

¹⁴I said to him, “Sir, you know.” Then he told me: These are the ones coming out of the great tribulation. They washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.

¹⁵For this reason they are before the throne of God, and they serve him day and night in his temple. The one seated on the throne will shelter them:

¹⁶They will no longer hunger; they will no longer thirst; the sun will no longer strike them, nor will any scorching heat.

¹⁷For the Lamb who is at the center of the throne will shepherd them; he will guide them to springs of the waters of life, and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.

¹I have come to my garden — my sister, my bride. I gather my myrrh with my spices. I eat my honeycomb with my honey. I drink my wine with my milk. Eat, friends! Drink, be intoxicated with caresses!

²I was sleeping, but my heart was awake. A sound! My love was knocking! Open to me, my sister, my darling, my dove, my perfect one. For my head is drenched with dew, my hair with droplets of the night.

³I have taken off my clothing. How can I put it back on? I have washed my feet. How can I get them dirty?

⁴My love thrust his hand through the opening, and my feelings were stirred for him.

⁵I rose to open for my love. My hands dripped with myrrh, my fingers with flowing myrrh on the handles of the bolt.

⁶I opened to my love, but my love had turned and gone away. My heart sank because he had left. I sought him, but did not find him. I called him, but he did not answer.

⁷The guards who go about the city found me. They beat and wounded me; they took my cloak from me — the guardians of the walls.

⁸Young women of Jerusalem, I charge you, if you find my love, tell him that I am lovesick.

⁹What makes the one you love better than another, most beautiful of women? What makes him better than another, that you would give us this charge?

¹⁰My love is fit and strong, notable among ten thousand.

¹¹His head is purest gold. His hair is wavy and black as a raven.

¹²His eyes are like doves beside flowing streams, washed in milk and set like jewels.

¹³His cheeks are like beds of spice, mounds of perfume. His lips are lilies, dripping with flowing myrrh.

¹⁴His arms are rods of gold set with beryl. His body is an ivory panel covered with lapis lazuli.

¹⁵His legs are alabaster pillars set on pedestals of pure gold. His presence is like Lebanon, as majestic as the cedars.

¹⁶His mouth is sweetness. He is absolutely desirable. This is my love, and this is my friend, young women of Jerusalem.

¹Come, let us shout joyfully to the LORD, shout triumphantly to the rock of our salvation!

²Let us enter his presence with thanksgiving; let us shout triumphantly to him in song.

³For the LORD is a great God, a great King above all gods.

⁴The depths of the earth are in his hand, and the mountain peaks are his.

⁵The sea is his; he made it. His hands formed the dry land.

⁶Come, let us worship and bow down; let us kneel before the LORD our Maker.

⁷For he is our God, and we are the people of his pasture, the sheep under his care. Today, if you hear his voice:

⁸Do not harden your hearts as at Meribah, as on that day at Massah in the wilderness

⁹where your fathers tested me; they tried me, though they had seen what I did.

¹⁰For forty years I was disgusted with that generation; I said, “They are a people whose hearts go astray; they do not know my ways.”

¹¹So I swore in my anger, “They will not enter my rest.”

¹The wicked flee when no one is pursuing them, but the righteous are as bold as a lion.

²When a land is in rebellion, it has many rulers, but with a discerning and knowledgeable person, it endures.

³A destitute leader who oppresses the poor is like a driving rain that leaves no food.

⁴Those who reject the law praise the wicked, but those who keep the law pit themselves against them.

⁵The evil do not understand justice, but those who seek the LORD understand everything.

⁶Better the poor person who lives with integrity than the rich one who distorts right and wrong.

⁷A discerning son keeps the law, but a companion of gluttons humiliates his father.

⁸Whoever increases his wealth through excessive interest collects it for one who is kind to the poor.

⁹Anyone who turns his ear away from hearing the law — even his prayer is detestable.

¹⁰The one who leads the upright into an evil way will fall into his own pit, but the blameless will inherit what is good.

¹¹A rich person is wise in his own eyes, but a poor one who has discernment sees through him.

¹²When the righteous triumph, there is great rejoicing, but when the wicked come to power, people hide.

¹³The one who conceals his sins will not prosper, but whoever confesses and renounces them will find mercy.

¹⁴Happy is the one who is always reverent, but one who hardens his heart falls into trouble.

¹⁵A wicked ruler over a helpless people is like a roaring lion or a charging bear.

¹⁶A leader who lacks understanding is very oppressive, but one who hates dishonest profit prolongs his life.

¹⁷Someone burdened by bloodguilt will be a fugitive until death. Let no one help him.

¹⁸The one who lives with integrity will be helped, but one who distorts right and wrong will suddenly fall.

¹⁹The one who works his land will have plenty of food, but whoever chases fantasies will have his fill of poverty.

²⁰A faithful person will have many blessings, but one in a hurry to get rich will not go unpunished.

²¹It is not good to show partiality  — yet even a courageous person may sin for a piece of bread.

²²A greedy one is in a hurry for wealth; he doesn’t know that poverty will come to him.

²³One who rebukes a person will later find more favor than one who flatters with his tongue.

²⁴The one who robs his father or mother and says, “That’s no sin,” is a companion to a person who destroys.

²⁵A greedy person stirs up conflict, but whoever trusts in the LORD will prosper.

²⁶The one who trusts in himself is a fool, but one who walks in wisdom will be safe.

²⁷The one who gives to the poor will not be in need, but one who turns his eyes away will receive many curses.

²⁸When the wicked come to power, people hide, but when they are destroyed, the righteous flourish.

¹That night sleep escaped the king, so he ordered the book recording daily events to be brought and read to the king.

²They found the written report of how Mordecai had informed on Bigthana and Teresh, two of the king’s eunuchs who guarded the entrance, when they planned to assassinate King Ahasuerus.

³The king inquired, “What honor and special recognition have been given to Mordecai for this act?” The king’s personal attendants replied, “Nothing has been done for him.”

⁴The king asked, “Who is in the court?” Now Haman was just entering the outer court of the palace to ask the king to hang Mordecai on the gallows he had prepared for him.

⁵The king’s attendants answered him, “Haman is there, standing in the court.” “Have him enter,” the king ordered.

⁶Haman entered, and the king asked him, “What should be done for the man the king wants to honor?” Haman thought to himself, “Who is it the king would want to honor more than me?”

⁷Haman told the king, “For the man the king wants to honor:

⁸Have them bring a royal garment that the king himself has worn and a horse the king himself has ridden, which has a royal crown on its head.

⁹Put the garment and the horse under the charge of one of the king’s most noble officials. Have them clothe the man the king wants to honor, parade him on the horse through the city square, and proclaim before him, ‘This is what is done for the man the king wants to honor.’”

¹⁰The king told Haman, “Hurry, and do just as you proposed. Take a garment and a horse for Mordecai the Jew, who is sitting at the King’s Gate. Do not leave out anything you have suggested.”

¹¹So Haman took the garment and the horse. He clothed Mordecai and paraded him through the city square, crying out before him, “This is what is done for the man the king wants to honor.”

¹²Then Mordecai returned to the King’s Gate, but Haman hurried off for home, mournful and with his head covered.

¹³Haman told his wife Zeresh and all his friends everything that had happened. His advisers and his wife Zeresh said to him, “Since Mordecai is Jewish, and you have begun to fall before him, you won’t overcome him, because your downfall is certain.”

¹⁴While they were still speaking with him, the king’s eunuchs arrived and rushed Haman to the banquet Esther had prepared.

¹“On that day a fountain will be opened for the house of David and for the residents of Jerusalem, to wash away sin and impurity.

²On that day” — this is the declaration of the LORD of Armies — “I will remove the names of the idols from the land, and they will no longer be remembered. I will banish the prophets and the unclean spirit from the land.

³If a man still prophesies, his father and his mother who bore him will say to him: You cannot remain alive because you have spoken a lie in the name of the LORD. When he prophesies, his father and his mother who bore him will pierce him through.

⁴On that day every prophet will be ashamed of his vision when he prophesies; they will not put on a hairy cloak in order to deceive.

⁵He will say: I am not a prophet; I work the land, for a man purchased me as a servant since my youth.

⁶If someone asks him: What are these wounds on your chest?  — then he will answer: I received the wounds in the house of my friends.

⁷Sword, awake against my shepherd, against the man who is my associate — this is the declaration of the LORD of Armies. Strike the shepherd, and the sheep will be scattered; I will turn my hand against the little ones.

⁸In the whole land — this is the LORD’s declaration — two-thirds will be cut off and die, but a third will be left in it.

⁹I will put this third through the fire; I will refine them as silver is refined and test them as gold is tested. They will call on my name, and I will answer them. I will say: They are my people, and they will say: The LORD is our God.”

¹After we tore ourselves away from them, we set sail straight for Cos, the next day to Rhodes, and from there to Patara.

²Finding a ship crossing over to Phoenicia, we boarded and set sail.

³After we sighted Cyprus, passing to the south of it, we sailed on to Syria and arrived at Tyre, since the ship was to unload its cargo there.

⁴We sought out the disciples and stayed there seven days. Through the Spirit they told Paul not to go to Jerusalem.

⁵When our time had come to an end, we left to continue our journey, while all of them, with their wives and children, accompanied us out of the city. After kneeling down on the beach to pray,

⁶we said farewell to one another and boarded the ship, and they returned home.

⁷When we completed our voyage from Tyre, we reached Ptolemais, where we greeted the brothers and sisters and stayed with them for a day.

⁸The next day we left and came to Caesarea, where we entered the house of Philip the evangelist, who was one of the Seven, and stayed with him.

⁹This man had four virgin daughters who prophesied.

¹⁰After we had been there for several days, a prophet named Agabus came down from Judea.

¹¹He came to us, took Paul’s belt, tied his own feet and hands, and said, “This is what the Holy Spirit says: ‘In this way the Jews in Jerusalem will bind the man who owns this belt and deliver him over to the Gentiles.’”

¹²When we heard this, both we and the local people pleaded with him not to go up to Jerusalem.

¹³Then Paul replied, “What are you doing, weeping and breaking my heart? For I am ready not only to be bound but also to die in Jerusalem for the name of the Lord Jesus.”

¹⁴Since he would not be persuaded, we said no more except, “The Lord’s will be done.”

¹⁵After this we got ready and went up to Jerusalem.

¹⁶Some of the disciples from Caesarea also went with us and brought us to Mnason of Cyprus, an early disciple, with whom we were to stay.

¹⁷When we reached Jerusalem, the brothers and sisters welcomed us warmly.

¹⁸The following day Paul went in with us to James, and all the elders were present.

¹⁹After greeting them, he reported in detail what God had done among the Gentiles through his ministry.

²⁰When they heard it, they glorified God and said, “You see, brother, how many thousands of Jews there are who have believed, and they are all zealous for the law.

²¹But they have been informed about you — that you are teaching all the Jews who are among the Gentiles to abandon Moses, telling them not to circumcise their children or to live according to our customs.

²²So what is to be done? They will certainly hear that you’ve come.

²³Therefore do what we tell you: We have four men who have made a vow.

²⁴Take these men, purify yourself along with them, and pay for them to get their heads shaved. Then everyone will know that what they were told about you amounts to nothing, but that you yourself are also careful about observing the law.

²⁵With regard to the Gentiles who have believed, we have written a letter containing our decision that they should keep themselves from food sacrificed to idols, from blood, from what is strangled, and from sexual immorality.”

²⁶So the next day, Paul took the men, having purified himself along with them, and entered the temple, announcing the completion of the purification days when the offering would be made for each of them.

²⁷When the seven days were nearly over, some Jews from the province of Asia saw him in the temple, stirred up the whole crowd, and seized him,

²⁸shouting, “Fellow Israelites, help! This is the man who teaches everyone everywhere against our people, our law, and this place. What’s more, he also brought Greeks into the temple and has defiled this holy place.”

²⁹For they had previously seen Trophimus the Ephesian in the city with him, and they supposed that Paul had brought him into the temple.

³⁰The whole city was stirred up, and the people rushed together. They seized Paul, dragged him out of the temple, and at once the gates were shut.

³¹As they were trying to kill him, word went up to the commander of the regiment that all Jerusalem was in chaos.

³²Taking along soldiers and centurions, he immediately ran down to them. Seeing the commander and the soldiers, they stopped beating Paul.

³³Then the commander approached, took him into custody, and ordered him to be bound with two chains. He asked who he was and what he had done.

³⁴Some in the crowd were shouting one thing and some another. Since he was not able to get reliable information because of the uproar, he ordered him to be taken into the barracks.

³⁵When Paul got to the steps, he had to be carried by the soldiers because of the violence of the crowd,

³⁶for the mass of people followed, yelling, “Get rid of him!”

³⁷As he was about to be brought into the barracks, Paul said to the commander, “Am I allowed to say something to you?” He replied, “You know how to speak Greek?

³⁸Aren’t you the Egyptian who started a revolt some time ago and led four thousand men of the Assassins into the wilderness?”

³⁹Paul said, “I am a Jewish man from Tarsus of Cilicia, a citizen of an important city. Now I ask you, let me speak to the people.”

⁴⁰After he had given permission, Paul stood on the steps and motioned with his hand to the people. When there was a great hush, he addressed them in Aramaic: