Professor Horner’s Reading Plan

¹Jesus left the temple area and was going on His way when His disciples came up to Him to call His attention to the [magnificent and massive] buildings of the temple.

²And He said to them, "Do you see all these things? I assure you and most solemnly say to you, not one stone here will be left on another, which will not be torn down."

³While Jesus was seated on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to Him privately, and said, "Tell us, when will this [destruction of the temple] take place, and what will be the sign of Your coming, and of the end (completion, consummation) of the age?"

⁴Jesus answered, "Be careful that no one misleads you [deceiving you and leading you into error].

⁵For many will come in My name [misusing it, and appropriating the strength of the name which belongs to Me], saying, 'I am the Christ (the Messiah, the Anointed),' and they will mislead many.

⁶You will continually hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not frightened, for those things must take place, but that is not yet the end [of the age].

⁷For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom, and there will be famines and earthquakes in various places.

⁸But all these things are merely the beginning of birth pangs [of the intolerable anguish and the time of unprecedented trouble].

⁹"Then they will hand you over to [endure] tribulation, and will put you to death, and you will be hated by all nations because of My name.

¹⁰At that time many will be offended and repelled [by their association with Me] and will fall away [from the One whom they should trust] and will betray one another [handing over believers to their persecutors] and will hate one another.

¹¹Many false prophets will appear and mislead many.

¹²Because lawlessness is increased, the love of most people will grow cold.

¹³But the one who endures and bears up [under suffering] to the end will be saved.

¹⁴This good news of the kingdom [the gospel] will be preached throughout the whole world as a testimony to all the nations, and then the end [of the age] will come.

¹⁵"So when you see theabomination of desolation [the appalling sacrilege that astonishes and makes desolate], spoken of by the prophet Daniel, standing in the Holy Place (let the reader understand),

¹⁶then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains [for refuge].

¹⁷"Whoever is on the housetop must not go down to get the things that are in his house [because there will not be enough time].

¹⁸"Whoever is in the field must not turn back to get his coat.

¹⁹And woe to those who are pregnant and to those who are nursing babies in those days!

²⁰Pray that your flight [from persecution and suffering] will not be in winter, or on a Sabbath [when Jewish laws prohibit travel].

²¹For at that time there will be a great tribulation (pressure, distress, oppression), such as has not occurred since the beginning of the world until now, nor ever will [again].

²²And if those days [of tribulation] had not been cut short, no human life would be saved; but for the sake of the elect (God's chosen ones) those days will be shortened.

²³Then if anyone says to you [during the great tribulation], 'Look! Here is the Christ,' or 'There He is,' do not believe it.

²⁴For false Christs and false prophets will appear and they will provide great signs and wonders, so as to deceive, if possible, even the elect (God's chosen ones).

²⁵Listen carefully, I have told you in advance.

²⁶So if they say to you, 'Look! He is in the wilderness,' do not go out there, or, 'Look! He is in the inner rooms [of a house],' do not believe it.

²⁷For just as the lightning comes from the east and flashes as far as the west, so will be the coming [in glory] of the Son of Man [everyone will see Him clearly].

²⁸Wherever the corpse is, there the vultures will flock together.

²⁹"Immediately after the tribulation of those days the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not provide its light, and the stars will fall from the sky, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken.

³⁰And at that time the sign of the Son of Man [coming in His glory] will appear in the sky, and then all the tribes of the earth [and especially Israel] will mourn [regretting their rebellion and rejection of the Messiah], and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory [in brilliance and splendor].

³¹And He will send His angels with a loud trumpet and they will gather together His elect (God's chosen ones) from the four winds, from one end of the heavens to the other.

³²"Now learn this lesson from the fig tree: As soon as its young shoots become tender and it puts out its leaves, you know that summer is near;

³³so you, too, when you see all these things [taking place], know for certain that He is near, right at the door.

³⁴I assure you and most solemnly say to you, this generation [the people living when these signs and events begin] will not pass away until all these things take place.

³⁵Heaven and earth [as now known] will pass away, but My words will not pass away.

³⁶"But of that [exact] day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son [in His humanity], but the Father alone.

³⁷For the coming of the Son of Man (the Messiah) will be just like the days of Noah.

³⁸For as in those days before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the [very] day when Noah entered the ark,

³⁹and they did not know or understand until the flood came and swept them all away; so will the coming of the Son of Man be [unexpected judgment].

⁴⁰At that time two men will be in the field; one will be taken [for judgment] and one will be left.

⁴¹Two women will be grinding at the mill; one will be taken [for judgment] and one will be left.

⁴²"So be alert [give strict attention, be cautious and active in faith], for you do not know which day [whether near or far] your Lord is coming.

⁴³But understand this: If the head of the house had known what time of the night the thief was coming, he would have been on the alert and would not have allowed his house to be broken into.

⁴⁴Therefore, you [who follow Me] must also be ready; because the Son of Man is coming at an hour when you do not expect Him.

⁴⁵"Who then is the faithful and wise servant whom his master has put in charge of his household to give the others [in the house] their food and supplies at the proper time?

⁴⁶Blessed is that [faithful] servant when his master returns and finds him doing so.

⁴⁷I assure you and most solemnly say to you that he will put him in charge of all his possessions.

⁴⁸But if that servant is evil and says in his heart, 'My master is taking his time [he will not return for a long while],'

⁴⁹and begins to beat his fellow servants and to eat and drink with drunkards;

⁵⁰the master of that servant will come on a day when he does not expect him and at an hour of which he is not aware,

⁵¹and will cut him in two and put him with the hypocrites; in that place there will be weeping [over sorrow and pain] and grinding of teeth [over distress and anger].

¹Now Abraham was old, [well] advanced in age; and the LORD had blessed Abraham in all things.

²Abraham said to his servant [Eliezer of Damascus], the oldest of his household, who had charge over all that Abraham owned, "Please, put your hand under my thigh [as is customary for affirming a solemn oath],

³and I will make you swear by the LORD, the God of heaven and the God of earth, that you will not take a wife for my son from the daughters of the Canaanites, among whom I live,

⁴but you will [instead] go to my [former] country (Mesopotamia) and to my relatives, and take a wife for my son Isaac [the heir of the covenant promise]."

⁵The servant said to him, "Suppose the woman will not be willing to follow me back to this country; should I take your son back to the country from which you came?"

⁶Abraham said to him, "See to it that you do not take my son back there!

⁷The LORD, the God of heaven, who took me from my father's house, from the land of my family and my birth, who spoke to me and swore to me, saying, 'To your descendants I will give this land'—He will send His angel before you [to guide you], and you will take a wife from there for my son [and bring her here].

⁸If the woman is not willing to follow you [to this land], then you will be free from this my oath and blameless; only you must never take my son back there."

⁹So the servant put his hand under the thigh of Abraham his master, and swore to him concerning this matter.

¹⁰Then the servant took ten of his master's camels, and set out, taking some of his master's good things with him; so he got up and journeyed to Mesopotamia [between the Tigris and the Euphrates Rivers], to the city of Nahor [the home of Abraham's brother].

¹¹He made the camels kneel down outside the city by the well of water at the time of the evening when women go out to draw water.

¹²And he said, "O LORD, God of my master Abraham, please grant me success today, and show lovingkindness (faithfulness) to my master Abraham.

¹³Behold, I stand here at the spring of water, and the daughters of the men of the city are coming out to draw water;

¹⁴now let it be that the girl to whom I say, 'Please, let down your jar so that I may [have a] drink,' and she replies, 'Drink, and I will also give your camels water to drink'—may she be the one whom You have selected [as a wife] for Your servant Isaac; and by this I will know that You have shown lovingkindness (faithfulness) to my master."

¹⁵Before Eliezer had finished speaking (praying), Rebekah came out with her [water] jar on her shoulder. Rebekah was the daughter of Bethuel the son of Milcah, who was the wife of Abraham's brother Nahor.

¹⁶The girl was very beautiful, a virgin and unmarried; and she went down to the spring and filled her jar and came up.

¹⁷Then the servant ran to meet her, and said, "Please let me drink a little water from your jar."

¹⁸And she said, "Drink, my lord"; and she quickly lowered her jar to her hand, and gave him a drink.

¹⁹When she had given Eliezer a drink, she said, "I will also draw water for your camels until they have finished drinking."

²⁰So she quickly emptied her jar into the trough, and ran again to the well and drew water for all his camels.

²¹Meanwhile, the man stood gazing at Rebekah in [reverent] silence, [waiting] to know if the LORD had made his trip successful or not.

²²When the camels had finished drinking, Eliezer took a gold ring weighing a half-shekel and two bracelets for her hands weighing ten shekels in gold,

²³and said, "Whose daughter are you? Please tell me, is there room in your father's house for us to lodge?"

²⁴And she said to him, "I am the daughter of Bethuel, Milcah's son, whom she bore to [her husband] Nahor."

²⁵Again she said to him, "We have plenty of both straw and feed, and also room to lodge."

²⁶The man bowed his head and worshiped the LORD.

²⁷He said, "Blessed be the LORD, the God of my master Abraham, who has not denied His lovingkindness and His truth to my master. As for me, the LORD led me to the house of my master's brothers."

²⁸Then the girl ran and told her mother's household what had happened.

²⁹Now Rebekah had a brother whose name was Laban; and Laban ran out to the man at the well.

³⁰When he saw the ring and the bracelets on his sister's arms, and when he heard Rebekah his sister, saying, "The man said this to me," he went to Eliezer and found him standing by the camels at the spring.

³¹And Laban said, "Come in, blessed of the LORD! Why do you stand outside since I have made the house ready and have prepared a place for the camels?"

³²So the man came into the house, and Laban unloaded his camels and gave them straw and feed, and [he gave] water to [Eliezer to] wash his feet and the feet of the men who were with him.

³³But when food was set before him, he said, "I will not eat until I have stated my business." And Laban said, "Speak on."

³⁴So he said, "I am Abraham's servant.

³⁵The LORD has greatly blessed my master, and he has become great (wealthy, powerful); He has given him flocks and herds, and silver and gold, and servants and maids, and camels and donkeys.

³⁶Now Sarah my master's wife bore a son to my master when she was in her old age, and he has given everything that he has to him.

³⁷My master made me swear [an oath], saying, 'You must not take a wife for my son from the daughters of the Canaanites, in whose land I live;

³⁸but you shall [instead] go to my father's house and to my family and take a wife for my son [Isaac].'

³⁹Then I said to my master, 'But suppose the woman will not follow me [back to this land].'

⁴⁰He said to me, 'The LORD, before whom I walk [habitually and obediently], will send His angel with you to make your journey successful, and you will take a wife for my son from my relatives and from my father's house;

⁴¹then you will be free of my oath, when you come to my relatives; and if they do not give her to you, you will [also] be free of my oath.'

⁴²"I came today to the spring, and said, 'O LORD, God of my master Abraham, if now You will make my journey on which I go successful;

⁴³please look, I am standing by the spring of water; now let it be that when the maiden [whom You have chosen for Isaac] comes out to draw [water], and to whom I say, "Please, give me a little water to drink from your jar";

⁴⁴and if she says to me, "You drink, and I will also draw [water] for your camels"; let that woman be the one whom the LORD has selected and chosen [as a wife] for my master's son.'

⁴⁵"Before I had finished praying in my heart, behold, Rebekah came out with her [water] jar on her shoulder, and she went down to the spring and drew water. And I said to her, 'Please, let me have a drink.'

⁴⁶And she quickly let down her jar from her shoulder, and said, 'Drink, and I will also water your camels'; so I drank, and she also watered the camels.

⁴⁷Then I asked her, 'Whose daughter are you?' She said, 'The daughter of Bethuel, Nahor's son, whom Milcah bore to him'; and I put the ring in her nose, and the bracelets on her arms.

⁴⁸And I bowed down my head and worshiped the LORD, and blessed the LORD, the God of my master Abraham, who had led me in the right way to take the daughter of my master's brother to his son [as a wife].

⁴⁹So now if you are going to show kindness and truth to my master [being faithful to him], tell me; and if not, tell me, that I may turn to the right or to the left [and go on my way]."

⁵⁰Then Laban and Bethuel answered, "The matter has come from the LORD; so we dare not speak bad or good [to you about it—we cannot interfere].

⁵¹Rebekah is before you; take her and go, and let her be the wife of your master's son, as the LORD has spoken."

⁵²When Abraham's servant heard their words, he bowed himself to the ground [in worship] before the LORD.

⁵³Then the servant brought out jewelry of silver, jewelry of gold, and articles of clothing, and gave them to Rebekah; he also gave precious things to her brother and her mother.

⁵⁴Then he and the men who were with him ate and drank and spent the night [there]. In the morning when they got up, he said, "Now send me back to my master."

⁵⁵But Rebekah's brother and mother said, "Let the girl stay with us a few days—at least ten; then she may go."

⁵⁶But Eliezer said to them, "Do not delay me, since the LORD has prospered my way. Send me away, so that I may go back to my master."

⁵⁷And they said, "We will call the girl and ask her what she prefers."

⁵⁸So they called Rebekah and said, "Will you go with this man?" And she answered, "I will go."

⁵⁹So they sent off their sister Rebekah and her nurse [Deborah, as her attendant] and Abraham's servant [Eliezer] and his men.

⁶⁰They blessed Rebekah and said to her, "May you, our sister, Become [the mother of] thousands of ten thousands, And may your descendants possess (conquer) The [city] gate of those who hate them."

⁶¹Then Rebekah and her attendants stood, and they mounted camels and followed the man. So the servant took Rebekah and went on his way.

⁶²Now Isaac had returned from going to Beer-lahai-roi (Well of the Living One Who Sees Me), for he was living in the Negev.

⁶³Isaac went out to bow down [in prayer] in the field in the [early] evening; he raised his eyes and looked, and camels were coming.

⁶⁴Rebekah also raised her eyes and looked, and when she saw Isaac, she dismounted from her camel.

⁶⁵She said to the servant, "Who is that man there walking across the field to meet us?" And the servant said, "He is my master [Isaac]." So she took a veil and covered herself [as was customary].

⁶⁶The servant told Isaac everything that he had done.

⁶⁷Then Isaac brought her into his mother Sarah's tent, and he took Rebekah [in marriage], and she became his wife, and he loved her; therefore Isaac was comforted after his mother's death.

¹Now about food sacrificed to idols, we know that we all have knowledge [concerning this]. Knowledge [alone] makes [people self-righteously] arrogant, but love [that unselfishly seeks the best for others] builds up and encourages others to grow [in wisdom].

²If anyone imagines that he knows and understands anything [of divine matters, without love], he has not yet known as he ought to know.

³But if anyone loves God [with awe-filled reverence, obedience and gratitude], he is known by Him [as His very own and is greatly loved].

⁴In this matter, then, of eating food offered to idols, we know that an idol is nothing in the world [it has no real existence], and that there is no God but one.

⁵For even if there are so-called gods, whether in heaven or on earth, as indeed there are many gods and many lords,

⁶yet for us there is but one God, the Father, who is the source of all things, and we exist for Him; and one Lord, Jesus Christ, by whom are all things [that have been created], and we [believers exist and have life and have been redeemed] through Him.

⁷However, not all [believers] have this knowledge. But some, being accustomed [throughout their lives] to [thinking of] the idol until now [as real and living], still eat food as if it were sacrificed to an idol; and because their conscience is weak, it is defiled (guilty, ashamed).

⁸Now food will not commend us to God nor bring us close to Him; we are no worse off if we do not eat, nor are we better if we do eat.

⁹Only be careful that this liberty of yours [this power to choose] does not somehow become a stumbling block [that is, a temptation to sin] to the weak [in conscience].

¹⁰For if someone sees you, a person having knowledge, eating in an idol's temple, then if he is weak, will he not be encouraged to eat things sacrificed to idols [and violate his own convictions]?

¹¹For through your knowledge (spiritual maturity) this weak man is ruined [that is, he suffers in his spiritual life], the brother for whom Christ died.

¹²And when you sin against the brothers and sisters in this way and wound their weak conscience [by confusing them], you sin against Christ.

¹³Therefore, if [my eating a certain] food causes my brother to stumble (sin), I will not eat [such] meat ever again, so that I will not cause my brother to stumble.

¹My fellow believers, do not practice your faith in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ with an attitude of partiality [toward people—show no favoritism, no prejudice, no snobbery].

²For if a man comes into your meeting place wearing a gold ring and fine clothes, and a poor man in dirty clothes also comes in,

³and you pay special attention to the one who wears the fine clothes, and say to him, "You sit here in this good seat," and you tell the poor man, "You stand over there, or sit down [on the floor] by my footstool,"

⁴have you not discriminated among yourselves, and become judges with wrong motives?

⁵Listen, my beloved brothers and sisters: has not God chosen the poor of this world to be rich in faith and [as believers to be] heirs of the kingdom which He promised to those who love Him?

⁶But you [in contrast] have dishonored the poor man. Is it not the rich who oppress and exploit you, and personally drag you into the courts of law?

⁷Do they not blaspheme the precious name [of Christ] by which you are called?

⁸If, however, you are [really] fulfilling the royal law according to the Scripture, "You shall love your neighbor as yourself [that is, if you have an unselfish concern for others and do things for their benefit]" you are doing well.

⁹But if you show partiality [prejudice, favoritism], you are committing sin and are convicted by the Law as offenders.

¹⁰For whoever keeps the whole Law but stumbles in one point, he has become guilty of [breaking] all of it.

¹¹For He who said, "Do not commit adultery," also said, "Do not murder." Now if you do not commit adultery, but you murder, you have become guilty of transgressing the [entire] Law.

¹²Speak and act [consistently] as people who are going to be judged by the law of liberty [that moral law that frees obedient Christians from the bondage of sin].

¹³For judgment will be merciless to one who has shown no mercy; but [to the one who has shown mercy] mercy triumphs [victoriously] over judgment.

¹⁴What is the benefit, my fellow believers, if someone claims to have faith but has no [good] works [as evidence]? Can that [kind of] faith save him? [No, a mere claim of faith is not sufficient—genuine faith produces good works.]

¹⁵If a brother or sister is without [adequate] clothing and lacks [enough] food for each day,

¹⁶and one of you says to them, "Go in peace [with my blessing], [keep] warm and feed yourselves," but he does not give them the necessities for the body, what good does that do?

¹⁷So too, faith, if it does not have works [to back it up], is by itself dead [inoperative and ineffective].

¹⁸But someone may say, "You [claim to] have faith and I have [good] works; show me your [alleged] faith without the works [if you can], and I will show you my faith by my works [that is, by what I do]."

¹⁹You believe that God is one; you do well [to believe that]. The demons also believe [that], and shudder and bristle [in awe-filled terror—they have seen His wrath]!

²⁰But are you willing to recognize, you foolish [spiritually shallow] person, that faith without [good] works is useless?

²¹Was our father Abraham not [shown to be] justified by works [of obedience which expressed his faith] when he offered Isaac his son on the altar [as a sacrifice to God]?

²²You see that [his] faith was working together with his works, and as a result of the works, his faith was completed [reaching its maturity when he expressed his faith through obedience].

²³And the Scripture was fulfilled which says, "Abraham believed God, and this [faith] was credited to him [by God] as righteousness and as conformity to His will," and he was called the friend of God.

²⁴You see that a man (believer) is justified by works and not by faith alone [that is, by acts of obedience a born-again believer reveals his faith].

²⁵In the same way, was Rahab the prostitute not justified by works too, when she received the [Hebrew] spies as guests and protected them, and sent them away [to escape] by a different route?

²⁶For just as the [human] body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works [of obedience] is also dead.

¹"Why does the Almighty not set seasons for judgment? Why do those who know Him not see His days [for punishment of the wicked]?

²"Some remove the landmarks; They [violently] seize and pasture flocks [appropriating land and flocks openly].

³"They drive away the donkeys of the orphans; They take the widow's ox for a pledge.

⁴"They crowd the needy off the road; The poor of the land all hide themselves.

⁵"Behold, as wild donkeys in the desert, The poor go to their work, diligently seeking food; As bread for their children in the desert.

⁶"They harvest their fodder in a field [that is not their own], And glean the vineyard of the wicked.

⁷"They spend the night naked, without clothing, And have no covering against the cold.

⁸"They are wet from the rain of the mountains And cling to the rock for lack of shelter.

⁹"Others snatch the fatherless [infants] from the breast [to sell or make them slaves], And against the poor they take a pledge [of clothing].

¹⁰"They cause the poor to go about naked without clothing, And they take away the sheaves [of grain] from the hungry.

¹¹"Within the walls [of the wicked] the poor make [olive] oil; They tread [the grapes in] the wine presses, but thirst.

¹²"From the [populous and crowded] city men groan, And the souls of the wounded cry out for help; Yet God [seemingly] does not pay attention to the wrong [done to them].

¹³"Others have been with those who rebel against the light; They do not want to know its ways Nor stay in its paths.

¹⁴"The murderer rises at dawn; He kills the poor and the needy, And at night he becomes a thief.

¹⁵"The eye of the adulterer waits for the twilight, Saying, 'No eye will see me,' And he covers his face.

¹⁶"In the dark they dig into [the penetrable walls of] houses; They shut themselves up by day; They do not know the light [of day].

¹⁷"For the morning is the same to him as the thick darkness [of midnight]; For he is familiar with the terrors of thick darkness.

¹⁸"They are insignificant on the surface of the water; Their portion is cursed on the earth; They do not turn toward the vineyards.

¹⁹"Drought and heat consume the snow waters; So does Sheol (the nether world, the place of the dead) [consume] those who have sinned.

²⁰"A mother will forget him; The worm feeds on him until he is no longer remembered. And wickedness will be broken like a tree [which cannot be restored].

²¹"He preys on the barren (childless) woman And does no good for the widow.

²²"Yet God draws away the mighty by His power; He rises, but no one has assurance of life.

²³"God gives them security, and they are supported; And His eyes are on their ways.

²⁴"They are exalted for a little while, and then they are gone; Moreover, they are brought low and like everything [they are] gathered up and taken out of the way; Even like the heads of grain they are cut off.

²⁵"And if this is not so, who can prove me a liar And make my speech worthless?"

¹A Psalm of David. The earth is the Lord's, and the fullness of it, The world, and those who dwell in it.

²For He has founded it upon the seas And established it upon the streams and the rivers.

³Who may ascend onto the mountain of the LORD? And who may stand in His holy place?

⁴He who has clean hands and a pure heart, Who has not lifted up his soul to what is false, Nor has sworn [oaths] deceitfully.

⁵He shall receive a blessing from the LORD, And righteousness from the God of his salvation.

⁶This is the generation (description) of those who diligently seek Him and require Him as their greatest need, Who seek Your face, even [as did] Jacob. Selah.

⁷Lift up your heads, O gates, And be lifted up, ancient doors, That the King of glory may come in.

⁸Who is the King of glory? The LORD strong and mighty, The LORD mighty in battle.

⁹Lift up your heads, O gates, And lift them up, ancient doors, That the King of glory may come in.

¹⁰Who is [He then] this King of glory? The LORD of hosts, He is the King of glory [who rules over all creation with His heavenly armies]. Selah.

¹Do not be envious of evil men, Nor desire to be with them;

²For their minds plot violence, And their lips talk of trouble [for the innocent].

³Through [skillful and godly] wisdom a house [a life, a home, a family] is built, And by understanding it is established [on a sound and good foundation],

⁴And by knowledge its rooms are filled With all precious and pleasant riches.

⁵A wise man is strong, And a man of knowledge strengthens his power;

⁶For by wise guidance you can wage your war, And in an abundance of [wise] counselors there is victory and safety.

⁷Wisdom is too exalted for a [hardened, arrogant] fool; He does not open his mouth in the gate [where the city's rulers sit in judgment].

⁸He who plans to do evil Will be called a schemer or deviser of evil.

⁹The devising of folly is sin, And the scoffer is repulsive to men.

¹⁰If you are slack (careless) in the day of distress, Your strength is limited.

¹¹Rescue those who are being taken away to death, And those who stagger to the slaughter, Oh hold them back [from their doom]!

¹²If you [claim ignorance and] say, "See, we did not know this," Does He not consider it who weighs and examines the hearts and their motives? And does He not know it who guards your life and keeps your soul? And will He not repay [you and] every man according to his works?

¹³My son, eat honey, because it is good, And the drippings of the honeycomb are sweet to your taste.

¹⁴Know that [skillful and godly] wisdom is [so very good] for your life and soul; If you find wisdom, then there will be a future and a reward, And your hope and expectation will not be cut off.

¹⁵Do not lie in wait, O wicked man, against the dwelling of the righteous; Do not destroy his resting place;

¹⁶For a righteous man falls seven times, and rises again, But the wicked stumble in time of disaster and collapse.

¹⁷Do not rejoice and gloat when your enemy falls, And do not let your heart be glad [in self-righteousness] when he stumbles,

¹⁸Or the LORD will see your gloating and be displeased, And turn His anger away from your enemy.

¹⁹Do not get upset because of evildoers, Or be envious of the wicked,

²⁰For there will be no future for the evil man; The lamp of the wicked will be put out.

²¹My son, fear the LORD and the king; And do not associate with those who are given to change [of allegiance, and are revolutionary],

²²For their tragedy will rise suddenly, And who knows the punishment that both [the LORD and the king] will bring on the rebellious?

²³These also are sayings of the wise: To show partiality in judgment is not good.

²⁴He who says to the wicked, "You are righteous," Peoples will curse him, nations will denounce him;

²⁵But to those [honorable judges] who rebuke the wicked, it will go well with them and they will find delight, And a good blessing will come upon them.

²⁶He kisses the lips [and wins the hearts of people] Who gives a right and straightforward answer.

²⁷Prepare your work outside And get it ready for yourself in the field; Afterward build your house and establish a home.

²⁸Do not be a witness against your neighbor without cause, And do not deceive with your lips [speak neither lies nor half-truths].

²⁹Do not say, "I will do to him as he has done to me; I will pay the man back for his deed."

³⁰I went by the field of the lazy man, And by the vineyard of the man lacking understanding and common sense;

³¹And, behold, it was all overgrown with thorns, And nettles were covering its surface, And its stone wall was broken down.

³²When I saw, I considered it well; I looked and received instruction.

³³"Yet a little sleep, a little slumber, A little folding of the hands to rest [and daydream],"

³⁴Then your poverty will come as a robber, And your want like an armed man.

¹Then Joshua gathered all the tribes of Israel to Shechem, and called for the elders of Israel and for their heads and for their judges and for their officers; they presented themselves before God.

²Joshua said to all the people, "This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says, 'Your fathers, including Terah, the father of Abraham and the father of Nahor, lived beyond the [Euphrates] River in ancient times; and they served other gods.

³Then I took your father Abraham from beyond the [Euphrates] River and led him through all the land of Canaan, and multiplied his descendants, and I gave him Isaac.

⁴To Isaac I gave Jacob and Esau, and to Esau I gave [the hill country of] Mount Seir to possess; but Jacob and his sons went down to Egypt.

⁵Then I sent Moses and Aaron, and I plagued Egypt by what I did in its midst; and afterward I brought you out.

⁶Then I brought your fathers out of Egypt, and you came to the sea; and the Egyptians pursued your fathers with chariots and horsemen to the Red Sea.

⁷When they cried out to the LORD [for help], He put darkness between you and the Egyptians, and brought the sea upon them and covered them; and your own eyes saw what I did in Egypt. And you lived in the wilderness a long time (forty years).

⁸Then I brought you into the land of the Amorites who lived on the other side of the Jordan, and they fought with you; and I gave them into your hand, and you took possession of their land and I destroyed them before you.

⁹Then Balak the son of Zippor, king of Moab, arose and fought against Israel, and he sent and called Balaam the son of Beor to curse you.

¹⁰But I would not listen to Balaam. Therefore he had to bless you, so I saved you from Balak's hand.

¹¹You crossed the Jordan and came to Jericho; and the citizens of Jericho fought against you, as did the Amorite and the Perizzite and the Canaanite and the Hittite and the Girgashite, the Hivite and the Jebusite; and so I gave them into your hand.

¹²I sent the hornet [that is, the terror of you] before you, which drove the two kings of the Amorites out before you; but it was not by your sword or by your bow.

¹³I gave you a land for which you did not labor, and cities which you did not build, and you live in them; you eat from vineyards and olive groves which you did not plant.'

¹⁴"Now, therefore, fear the LORD and serve Him in sincerity and in truth; remove the gods which your fathers served on the other side of the [Euphrates] River and in Egypt, and serve the LORD.

¹⁵If it is unacceptable in your sight to serve the LORD, choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve: whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the River, or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you live; but as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD."

¹⁶The people answered, "Far be it from us to abandon (reject) the LORD to serve other gods;

¹⁷for the LORD our God is He who brought us and our fathers up out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage, and who did these great signs (miracles) in our sight and kept us safe all along the way that we went and among all the peoples among whom we passed.

¹⁸The LORD drove all the peoples out from before us, even the Amorites who lived in the land. We also will serve the LORD, for He is our God."

¹⁹Then Joshua said to the people, "You will not be able to serve the LORD [if you serve any other gods], for He is a holy God; He is a jealous God [demanding what is rightfully and uniquely His]. He will not forgive your transgression [of His law] or your sins.

²⁰If you do abandon (reject) the LORD and serve foreign gods, then He will turn and do you harm and consume and destroy you after He has done you good."

²¹The people said to Joshua, "No, but we will serve [only] the LORD."

²²Joshua then said to the people, "You are witnesses against yourselves that you have chosen for yourselves the LORD, to serve Him." And they said, "We are witnesses."

²³"Now then, remove the foreign gods which are among you, and incline your hearts toward the LORD, the God of Israel."

²⁴The people said to Joshua, "We will serve the LORD our God and we will listen to and obey His voice."

²⁵So Joshua made a covenant with the people that day, and made for them a statute and an ordinance at Shechem.

²⁶And Joshua wrote these words in the Book of the Law of God. Then he took a large stone and set it up there under the oak that was in [the courtyard of] the sanctuary of the LORD.

²⁷Joshua then said to all the people, "Look, this stone shall serve as a witness against us, for it has heard all the words of the LORD which He spoke to us; so it shall be a witness against you, so that [afterward] you do not deny your God."

²⁸Then Joshua sent the people away, each to [the territory of] his inheritance.

²⁹It happened after these things that Joshua the son of Nun, the servant of the LORD, died, at the age of a hundred and ten years.

³⁰They buried him in the territory of his inheritance in Timnath-serah, which is in the hill country of Ephraim, on the north side of Mount Gaash.

³¹Israel served the LORD all the days of Joshua and all the days of the elders who outlived Joshua, and had known all the works of the LORD which He had done for Israel.

³²Now they buried the bones of Joseph, which the children of Israel brought up from Egypt, at Shechem, in the plot of land which Jacob had bought from the sons of Hamor the father of Shechem for a hundred pieces of money; and it became the inheritance of the sons of Joseph.

³³And Eleazar [the priest], the son of Aaron died; and they buried him at Gibeah [on the hill] of Phinehas his son, which had been given to him in the hill country of Ephraim.

¹Behold, the LORD lays waste to the earth, devastates it, twists and distorts its face and scatters its inhabitants.

²And the people will be like the priest, the servant like his master, the maid like her mistress, the buyer like the seller, the lender like the borrower, the creditor like the debtor [as God's impartial judgment of sin comes on all].

³The earth will be completely laid waste and utterly pillaged, for the LORD has spoken this word.

⁴The earth dries up and crumbles away, the world dries out and crumbles away, the exalted of the people of the earth fade away.

⁵The earth also is polluted by its inhabitants, because they have transgressed laws, violated statutes, and broken the everlasting covenant.

⁶Therefore, a curse devours the earth, and those who live on it suffer the punishment of their guilt. Therefore, the inhabitants of the earth are burned [under the curse of God's wrath], and few people are left.

⁷The new wine mourns, The vine decays; All the merry-hearted sigh and groan.

⁸The mirth of the timbrels (tambourines) ceases, The noise of those who rejoice ends, The joy of the harp ceases.

⁹They do not drink wine with a song; Strong drink is bitter to those who drink it.

¹⁰The city of chaos is broken down; Every house is shut up so that no one may enter.

¹¹There is an outcry in the streets concerning the wine; All jubilation is darkened, The joy of the earth is banished.

¹²Horrible desolation is left in the city, And the gate is battered into ruins.

¹³For so it will be in the midst of the earth among the peoples, As the shaking of an olive tree, As the gleanings when the grape harvest is over [and only a little of the fruit remains].

¹⁴They [who have escaped and remain] raise their voices, they shout for joy; They rejoice from the [Mediterranean] Sea in the majesty of the LORD.

¹⁵Therefore honor and glorify the LORD in the east [in the region of light], The name of the LORD, the God of Israel [honor His name], In the coastlands and islands of the [Mediterranean] Sea.

¹⁶From the ends of the earth we hear songs, "Glory and honor to the Righteous One," But I say, "I waste away, I waste away. Woe to me! The treacherous deal treacherously, Indeed, the treacherous deal very treacherously."

¹⁷Terror and pit [of destruction] and snare Confront you, O inhabitant of the earth.

¹⁸Then it will be that he who flees at the sound of terror will fall into the pit, And he who comes up out of the pit will be caught in the snare; For the windows of heaven are opened, and the foundations of the earth tremble.

¹⁹The earth is broken completely apart, The earth is split apart, The earth is shaken violently.

²⁰The earth reels back and forth like a drunkard And sways like a shack; Its transgression lies heavily upon it, And it will fall and not rise again.

²¹So it will happen in that day That the LORD will visit and punish the host (fallen angels) of heaven on high, And the kings of the earth on the earth.

²²They will be gathered together As prisoners [are gathered] in a dungeon; They will be shut up in prison, And after many days they will be visited and punished.

²³Then the full moon will be embarrassed and the sun ashamed, For the LORD of hosts will reign on Mount Zion and in Jerusalem, And His glory and brilliance will shine before His elders.

¹Five days later, the high priest Ananias came down [from Jerusalem to Caesarea] with some elders and an attorney named Tertullus [acting as spokesman and counsel]. They presented to the governor their [formal] charges against Paul.

²After Paul had been summoned, Tertullus began the complaint [against him], saying to the governor: "Since through you we have attained great peace, and since by your foresight reforms are being carried out for this nation,

³in every way and in every place, most excellent Felix, we acknowledge this with all gratitude.

⁴But so that I do not weary you further, I beg you to grant us, by your kindness, a brief hearing.

⁵For we have found this man to be a public menace and one who instigates dissension among all the Jews throughout the world, and a ringleader of the [heretical] sect of the Nazarenes.

⁶He even tried to desecrate the temple, but we took him into custody[and we intended to judge him by our Law,

⁷but Lysias the commander came, and with great force took him out of our hands,

⁸and ordered his accusers to come before you.] By interrogating him yourself concerning all these matters you will be able to determine [the truth about] these things with which we charge him."

⁹The Jews also joined in the attack, declaring and insisting that these things were so.

¹⁰When the governor nodded for him to speak, Paul answered, "Knowing that for many years you have been a judge over this nation, I make my defense cheerfully and with good courage.

¹¹As you can easily verify, it has been no more than twelve days since I went up to Jerusalem to worship.

¹²Neither in the temple, nor in the synagogues, nor elsewhere in the city did they find me carrying on a discussion or disputing with anybody or causing a crowd to gather.

¹³Nor can they present evidence to you to prove what they now bring against me.

¹⁴But I confess this to you, that according to the Way, which they call a [divisive and heretical] sect, I do worship and serve the God of our fathers, [confidently] believing everything that is in accordance with the Law [of Moses] and that is written in the Prophets;

¹⁵having [the same] hope in God which these men cherish themselves, that there shall certainly be a resurrection of [the dead], both of the righteous and of the wicked.

¹⁶In view of this, I also do my best and strive always to have a clear conscience before God and before men.

¹⁷Now after several years I came [to Jerusalem] to bring to my people charitable contributions and offerings.

¹⁸They found me in the temple presenting these offerings, after I had undergone [the rites of] purification, without any crowd or uproar. But there were some Jews from [the west coast province of] Asia [Minor],

¹⁹who ought to have been here before you to present their charges, if they have anything against me.

²⁰Or else let these men tell what crime they found [me guilty of] when I stood before the Council (Sanhedrin, Jewish High Court),

²¹other than for this one statement which I had shouted out as I stood among them, 'For the resurrection of the dead I am on trial before you today.'"

²²But Felix, having a rather accurate understanding about the Way, put them off, saying, "When Lysias the commander comes down, I will decide your case."

²³Then he ordered the centurion to keep Paul in custody, but to let him have some freedom, and [he told the centurion] not to stop any of his friends from providing for his needs.

²⁴Several days later Felix came with his wife Drusilla, who was a Jewess. He sent for Paul and listened to him talk about faith in Christ Jesus.

²⁵But as he was discussing righteousness, self-control [honorable behavior, personal integrity], and the judgment to come, Felix became frightened and said, "Go away for now, and when I find [a convenient] time I will send for you."

²⁶At the same time he was also hoping to get money from Paul [as a bribe]; so he continued to send for him quite often and talked with him.

²⁷But after two years had passed, Felix was succeeded [in office] by Porcius Festus; and wishing to do the Jews a favor, Felix left Paul imprisoned.