Professor Horner’s Reading Plan

¹Jesus left the temple and was going away, when his disciples came to point out to him the buildings of the temple.

²But he answered them, “You see all these, do you not? Truly, I say to you, there will not be left here one stone upon another that will not be thrown down.”

³As he sat on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to him privately, saying, “Tell us, when will these things be, and what will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age?”

⁴And Jesus answered them, “See that no one leads you astray.

⁵For many will come in my name, saying, ‘I am the Christ,’ and they will lead many astray.

⁶And you will hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not alarmed, for this must take place, but the end is not yet.

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

⁸All these are but the beginning of the birth pains.

⁹“Then they will deliver you up to tribulation and put you to death, and you will be hated by all nations for my name's sake.

¹⁰And then many will fall away and betray one another and hate one another.

¹¹And many false prophets will arise and lead many astray.

¹²And because lawlessness will be increased, the love of many will grow cold.

¹³ But the one who endures to the end will be saved.

¹⁴And this gospel of the kingdom will be proclaimed throughout the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.

¹⁵“So when you see the abomination of desolation 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.

¹⁷ Let the one who is on the housetop not go down to take what is in his house,

¹⁸and let the one who is in the field not turn back to take his cloak.

¹⁹And alas for women who are pregnant and for those who are nursing infants in those days!

²⁰Pray that your flight may not be in winter or on a Sabbath.

²¹For then there will be great tribulation, such as has not been from the beginning of the world until now, no, and never will be.

²²And if those days had not been cut short, no human being would be saved. But for the sake of the elect those days will be cut short.

²³ Then if anyone says to you, ‘Look, here is the Christ!’ or ‘There he is!’ do not believe it.

²⁴For false christs and false prophets will arise and perform great signs and wonders, so as to lead astray, if possible, even the elect.

²⁵See, I have told you beforehand.

²⁶So, if they say to you, ‘Look, he is in the wilderness,’ do not go out. If they say, ‘Look, he is in the inner rooms,’ do not believe it.

²⁷ For as the lightning comes from the east and shines as far as the west, so will be the coming of the Son of Man.

²⁸ Wherever the corpse is, there the vultures will gather.

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

³⁰Then will appear in heaven the sign of the Son of Man, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.

³¹And he will send out his angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.

³²“From the fig tree learn its lesson: as soon as its branch becomes tender and puts out its leaves, you know that summer is near.

³³So also, when you see all these things, you know that he is near, at the very gates.

³⁴ Truly, I say to you, this generation will not pass away until all these things take place.

³⁵ Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away.

³⁶“But concerning that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father only.

³⁷ For as were the days of Noah, so will be the coming of the Son of Man.

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

³⁹and they were unaware until the flood came and swept them all away, so will be the coming of the Son of Man.

⁴⁰Then two men will be in the field; one will be taken and one left.

⁴¹ Two women will be grinding at the mill; one will be taken and one left.

⁴²Therefore, stay awake, for you do not know on what day your Lord is coming.

⁴³ But know this, that if the master of the house had known in what part of the night the thief was coming, he would have stayed awake and would not have let his house be broken into.

⁴⁴Therefore you also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.

⁴⁵“Who then is the faithful and wise servant, whom his master has set over his household, to give them their food at the proper time?

⁴⁶ Blessed is that servant whom his master will find so doing when he comes.

⁴⁷Truly, I say to you, he will set him over all his possessions.

⁴⁸But if that wicked servant says to himself, ‘My master is delayed,’

⁴⁹and begins to beat his fellow servants and eats and drinks with drunkards,

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

⁵¹and will cut him in pieces and put him with the hypocrites. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

¹Now Abraham was old, well advanced in years. And the LORD had blessed Abraham in all things.

²And Abraham said to his servant, the oldest of his household, who had charge of all that he had, “Put your hand under my thigh,

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

⁴but will go to my country and to my kindred, and take a wife for my son Isaac.”

⁵The servant said to him, “Perhaps the woman may not be willing to follow me to this land. Must I then take your son back to the land 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 and from the land of my kindred, and who spoke to me and swore to me, ‘To your offspring I will give this land,’ he will send his angel before you, and you shall take a wife for my son from there.

⁸But if the woman is not willing to follow you, then you will be free from this oath of mine; only you must not 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 departed, taking all sorts of choice gifts from his master; and he arose and went to Mesopotamia to the city of Nahor.

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

¹²And he said, “O LORD, God of my master Abraham, please grant me success today and show steadfast love to my master Abraham.

¹³Behold, I am standing by the spring of water, and the daughters of the men of the city are coming out to draw water.

¹⁴Let the young woman to whom I shall say, ‘Please let down your jar that I may drink,’ and who shall say, ‘Drink, and I will water your camels’ — let her be the one whom you have appointed for your servant Isaac. By this I shall know that you have shown steadfast love to my master.”

¹⁵Before he had finished speaking, behold, Rebekah, who was born to Bethuel the son of Milcah, the wife of Nahor, Abraham's brother, came out with her water jar on her shoulder.

¹⁶The young woman was very attractive in appearance, a maiden whom no man had known. She went down to the spring and filled her jar and came up.

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

¹⁸She said, “Drink, my lord.” And she quickly let down her jar upon her hand and gave him a drink.

¹⁹When she had finished giving him a drink, she said, “I will draw water for your camels also, until they have finished drinking.”

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

²¹The man gazed at her in silence to learn whether the LORD had prospered his journey or not.

²²When the camels had finished drinking, the man took a gold ring weighing a half shekel, and two bracelets for her arms weighing ten gold shekels,

²³and said, “Please tell me whose daughter you are. Is there room in your father's house for us to spend the night?”

²⁴She said to him, “I am the daughter of Bethuel the son of Milcah, whom she bore to Nahor.”

²⁵She added, “We have plenty of both straw and fodder, and room to spend the night.”

²⁶The man bowed his head and worshiped the LORD

²⁷and said, “Blessed be the LORD, the God of my master Abraham, who has not forsaken his steadfast love and his faithfulness toward my master. As for me, the LORD has led me in the way to the house of my master's kinsmen.”

²⁸Then the young woman ran and told her mother's household about these things.

²⁹Rebekah had a brother whose name was Laban. Laban ran out toward the man, to the spring.

³⁰As soon as he saw the ring and the bracelets on his sister's arms, and heard the words of Rebekah his sister, “Thus the man spoke to me,” he went to the man. And behold, he was standing by the camels at the spring.

³¹He said, “Come in, O blessed of the LORD. Why do you stand outside? For I have prepared the house and a place for the camels.”

³²So the man came to the house and unharnessed the camels, and gave straw and fodder to the camels, and there was water to wash his feet and the feet of the men who were with him.

³³Then food was set before him to eat. But he said, “I will not eat until I have said what I have to say.” He said, “Speak on.”

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

³⁵The LORD has greatly blessed my master, and he has become great. He has given him flocks and herds, silver and gold, male servants and female servants, camels and donkeys.

³⁶And Sarah my master's wife bore a son to my master when she was old, and to him he has given all that he has.

³⁷My master made me swear, saying, ‘You shall not take a wife for my son from the daughters of the Canaanites, in whose land I dwell,

³⁸but you shall go to my father's house and to my clan and take a wife for my son.’

³⁹I said to my master, ‘Perhaps the woman will not follow me.’

⁴⁰But he said to me, ‘The LORD, before whom I have walked, will send his angel with you and prosper your way. You shall take a wife for my son from my clan and from my father's house.

⁴¹Then you will be free from my oath, when you come to my clan. And if they will not give her to you, you will be free from my oath.’

⁴²“I came today to the spring and said, ‘O LORD, the God of my master Abraham, if now you are prospering the way that I go,

⁴³behold, I am standing by the spring of water. Let the virgin who comes out to draw water, to whom I shall say, “Please give me a little water from your jar to drink,”

⁴⁴and who will say to me, “Drink, and I will draw for your camels also,” let her be the woman whom the LORD has appointed for my master's son.’

⁴⁵“Before I had finished speaking in my heart, behold, Rebekah came out with her water jar on her shoulder, and she went down to the spring and drew water. I said to her, ‘Please let me drink.’

⁴⁶She quickly let down her jar from her shoulder and said, ‘Drink, and I will give your camels drink also.’ So I drank, and she gave the camels drink also.

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

⁴⁸Then I bowed my head and worshiped the LORD and blessed the LORD, the God of my master Abraham, who had led me by the right way to take the daughter of my master's kinsman for his son.

⁴⁹Now then, if you are going to show steadfast love and faithfulness to my master, tell me; and if not, tell me, that I may turn to the right hand or to the left.”

⁵⁰Then Laban and Bethuel answered and said, “The thing has come from the LORD; we cannot speak to you bad or good.

⁵¹Behold, Rebekah 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 earth before the LORD.

⁵³And the servant brought out jewelry of silver and of gold, and garments, and gave them to Rebekah. He also gave to her brother and to her mother costly ornaments.

⁵⁴And he and the men who were with him ate and drank, and they spent the night there. When they arose in the morning, he said, “Send me away to my master.”

⁵⁵Her brother and her mother said, “Let the young woman remain with us a while, at least ten days; after that she may go.”

⁵⁶But he said to them, “Do not delay me, since the LORD has prospered my way. Send me away that I may go to my master.”

⁵⁷They said, “Let us call the young woman and ask her.”

⁵⁸And they called Rebekah and said to her, “Will you go with this man?” She said, “I will go.”

⁵⁹So they sent away Rebekah their sister and her nurse, and Abraham's servant and his men.

⁶⁰And they blessed Rebekah and said to her, “Our sister, may you become thousands of ten thousands, and may your offspring possess the gate of those who hate him!”

⁶¹Then Rebekah and her young women arose and rode on the camels and followed the man. Thus the servant took Rebekah and went his way.

⁶²Now Isaac had returned from Beer-lahai-roi and was dwelling in the Negeb.

⁶³And Isaac went out to meditate in the field toward evening. And he lifted up his eyes and saw, and behold, there were camels coming.

⁶⁴And Rebekah lifted up her eyes, and when she saw Isaac, she dismounted from the camel

⁶⁵and said to the servant, “Who is that man, walking in the field to meet us?” The servant said, “It is my master.” So she took her veil and covered herself.

⁶⁶And the servant told Isaac all the things that he had done.

⁶⁷Then Isaac brought her into the tent of Sarah his mother and took Rebekah, and she became his wife, and he loved her. So Isaac was comforted after his mother's death.

¹Now concerning food offered to idols: we know that “all of us possess knowledge.” This “knowledge” puffs up, but love builds up.

²If anyone imagines that he knows something, he does not yet know as he ought to know.

³But if anyone loves God, he is known by God.

⁴Therefore, as to the eating of food offered to idols, we know that “an idol has no real existence,” and that “there is no God but one.”

⁵For although there may be so-called gods in heaven or on earth — as indeed there are many “gods” and many “lords” —

⁶yet for us there is one God, the Father, from whom are all things and for whom we exist, and one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom are all things and through whom we exist.

⁷However, not all possess this knowledge. But some, through former association with idols, eat food as really offered to an idol, and their conscience, being weak, is defiled.

⁸Food will not commend us to God. We are no worse off if we do not eat, and no better off if we do.

⁹But take care that this right of yours does not somehow become a stumbling block to the weak.

¹⁰For if anyone sees you who have knowledge eating in an idol's temple, will he not be encouraged, if his conscience is weak, to eat food offered to idols?

¹¹And so by your knowledge this weak person is destroyed, the brother for whom Christ died.

¹²Thus, sinning against your brothers and wounding their conscience when it is weak, you sin against Christ.

¹³Therefore, if food makes my brother stumble, I will never eat meat, lest I make my brother stumble.

¹My brothers, show no partiality as you hold the faith in our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory.

²For if a man wearing a gold ring and fine clothing comes into your assembly, and a poor man in shabby clothing also comes in,

³and if you pay attention to the one who wears the fine clothing and say, “You sit here in a good place,” while you say to the poor man, “You stand over there,” or, “Sit down at my feet,”

⁴have you not then made distinctions among yourselves and become judges with evil thoughts?

⁵Listen, my beloved brothers, has not God chosen those who are poor in the world to be rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom, which he has promised to those who love him?

⁶But you have dishonored the poor man. Are not the rich the ones who oppress you, and the ones who drag you into court?

⁷Are they not the ones who blaspheme the honorable name by which you were called?

⁸If you really fulfill the royal law according to the Scripture, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself,” you are doing well.

⁹But if you show partiality, you are committing sin and are convicted by the law as transgressors.

¹⁰For whoever keeps the whole law but fails in one point has become guilty of all of it.

¹¹For he who said, “Do not commit adultery,” also said, “Do not murder.” If you do not commit adultery but do murder, you have become a transgressor of the law.

¹²So speak and so act as those who are to be judged under the law of liberty.

¹³For judgment is without mercy to one who has shown no mercy. Mercy triumphs over judgment.

¹⁴What good is it, my brothers, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can that faith save him?

¹⁵If a brother or sister is poorly clothed and lacking in daily food,

¹⁶and one of you says to them, “Go in peace, be warmed and filled,” without giving them the things needed for the body, what good is that?

¹⁷So also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead.

¹⁸But someone will say, “You have faith and I have works.” Show me your faith apart from your works, and I will show you my faith by my works.

¹⁹You believe that God is one; you do well. Even the demons believe — and shudder!

²⁰Do you want to be shown, you foolish person, that faith apart from works is useless?

²¹Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he offered up his son Isaac on the altar?

²²You see that faith was active along with his works, and faith was completed by his works;

²³and the Scripture was fulfilled that says, “Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness” — and he was called a friend of God.

²⁴You see that a person is justified by works and not by faith alone.

²⁵And in the same way was not also Rahab the prostitute justified by works when she received the messengers and sent them out by another way?

²⁶For as the body apart from the spirit is dead, so also faith apart from works is dead.

¹“Why are not times of judgment kept by the Almighty, and why do those who know him never see his days?

²Some move landmarks; they seize flocks and pasture them.

³They drive away the donkey of the fatherless; they take the widow's ox for a pledge.

⁴They thrust the poor off the road; the poor of the earth all hide themselves.

⁵Behold, like wild donkeys in the desert the poor go out to their toil, seeking game; the wasteland yields food for their children.

⁶They gather their fodder in the field, and they glean the vineyard of the wicked man.

⁷They lie all night naked, without clothing, and have no covering in the cold.

⁸They are wet with the rain of the mountains and cling to the rock for lack of shelter.

⁹(There are those who snatch the fatherless child from the breast, and they take a pledge against the poor.)

¹⁰They go about naked, without clothing; hungry, they carry the sheaves;

¹¹among the olive rows of the wicked they make oil; they tread the winepresses, but suffer thirst.

¹²From out of the city the dying groan, and the soul of the wounded cries for help; yet God charges no one with wrong.

¹³“There are those who rebel against the light, who are not acquainted with its ways, and do not stay in its paths.

¹⁴The murderer rises before it is light, that he may kill the poor and needy, and in the night he is like a thief.

¹⁵The eye of the adulterer also waits for the twilight, saying, ‘No eye will see me’; and he veils his face.

¹⁶In the dark they dig through houses; by day they shut themselves up; they do not know the light.

¹⁷For deep darkness is morning to all of them; for they are friends with the terrors of deep darkness.

¹⁸“You say, ‘Swift are they on the face of the waters; their portion is cursed in the land; no treader turns toward their vineyards.

¹⁹Drought and heat snatch away the snow waters; so does Sheol those who have sinned.

²⁰The womb forgets them; the worm finds them sweet; they are no longer remembered, so wickedness is broken like a tree.’

²¹“They wrong the barren, childless woman, and do no good to the widow.

²²Yet God prolongs the life of the mighty by his power; they rise up when they despair of life.

²³He gives them security, and they are supported, and his eyes are upon their ways.

²⁴They are exalted a little while, and then are gone; they are brought low and gathered up like all others; they are cut off like the heads of grain.

²⁵If it is not so, who will prove me a liar and show that there is nothing in what I say?”

¹The earth is the LORD's and the fullness thereof, the world and those who dwell therein,

²for he has founded it upon the seas and established it upon the rivers.

³Who shall ascend the hill of the LORD? And who shall stand in his holy place?

⁴He who has clean hands and a pure heart, who does not lift up his soul to what is false and does not swear deceitfully.

⁵He will receive blessing from the LORD and righteousness from the God of his salvation.

⁶Such is the generation of those who seek him, who seek the face of the God of Jacob. Selah

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

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

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

¹⁰Who is this King of glory? The LORD of hosts, he is the King of glory! Selah

¹Be not envious of evil men, nor desire to be with them,

²for their hearts devise violence, and their lips talk of trouble.

³By wisdom a house is built, and by understanding it is established;

⁴by knowledge the rooms are filled with all precious and pleasant riches.

⁵A wise man is full of strength, and a man of knowledge enhances his might,

⁶for by wise guidance you can wage your war, and in abundance of counselors there is victory.

⁷Wisdom is too high for a fool; in the gate he does not open his mouth.

⁸Whoever plans to do evil will be called a schemer.

⁹The devising of folly is sin, and the scoffer is an abomination to mankind.

¹⁰If you faint in the day of adversity, your strength is small.

¹¹Rescue those who are being taken away to death; hold back those who are stumbling to the slaughter.

¹²If you say, “Behold, we did not know this,” does not he who weighs the heart perceive it? Does not he who keeps watch over your soul know it, and will he not repay man according to his work?

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

¹⁴Know that wisdom is such to your soul; if you find it, there will be a future, and your hope will not be cut off.

¹⁵Lie not in wait as a wicked man against the dwelling of the righteous; do no violence to his home;

¹⁶for the righteous falls seven times and rises again, but the wicked stumble in times of calamity.

¹⁷Do not rejoice when your enemy falls, and let not your heart be glad when he stumbles,

¹⁸lest the LORD see it and be displeased, and turn away his anger from him.

¹⁹Fret not yourself because of evildoers, and be not envious of the wicked,

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

²¹My son, fear the LORD and the king, and do not join with those who do otherwise,

²²for disaster will arise suddenly from them, and who knows the ruin that will come from them both?

²³These also are sayings of the wise. Partiality in judging is not good.

²⁴Whoever says to the wicked, “You are in the right,” will be cursed by peoples, abhorred by nations,

²⁵but those who rebuke the wicked will have delight, and a good blessing will come upon them.

²⁶Whoever gives an honest answer kisses the lips.

²⁷Prepare your work outside; get everything ready for yourself in the field, and after that build your house.

²⁸Be not a witness against your neighbor without cause, and do not deceive with your lips.

²⁹Do not say, “I will do to him as he has done to me; I will pay the man back for what he has done.”

³⁰I passed by the field of a sluggard, by the vineyard of a man lacking sense,

³¹and behold, it was all overgrown with thorns; the ground was covered with nettles, and its stone wall was broken down.

³²Then I saw and considered it; I looked and received instruction.

³³A little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to rest,

³⁴and poverty will come upon you like a robber, and want like an armed man.

¹Joshua gathered all the tribes of Israel to Shechem and summoned the elders, the heads, the judges, and the officers of Israel. And they presented themselves before God.

²And Joshua said to all the people, “Thus says the LORD, the God of Israel, ‘Long ago, your fathers lived beyond the Euphrates, Terah, the father of Abraham and of Nahor; and they served other gods.

³Then I took your father Abraham from beyond the River and led him through all the land of Canaan, and made his offspring many. I gave him Isaac.

⁴And to Isaac I gave Jacob and Esau. And I gave Esau the hill country of Seir to possess, but Jacob and his children went down to Egypt.

⁵And I sent Moses and Aaron, and I plagued Egypt with what I did in the midst of it, and afterward I brought you out.

⁶“‘Then 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.

⁷And when they cried to the LORD, he put darkness between you and the Egyptians and made the sea come upon them and cover them; and your eyes saw what I did in Egypt. And you lived in the wilderness a long time.

⁸Then I brought you to the land of the Amorites, who lived on the other side of the Jordan. 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 invited Balaam the son of Beor to curse you,

¹⁰but I would not listen to Balaam. Indeed, he blessed you. So I delivered you out of his hand.

¹¹And you went over the Jordan and came to Jericho, and the leaders of Jericho fought against you, and also the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Girgashites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites. And I gave them into your hand.

¹²And I sent the hornet before you, which drove them out before you, the two kings of the Amorites; it was not by your sword or by your bow.

¹³I gave you a land on which you had not labored and cities that you had not built, and you dwell in them. You eat the fruit of vineyards and olive orchards that you did not plant.’

¹⁴“Now therefore fear the LORD and serve him in sincerity and in faithfulness. Put away the gods that your fathers served beyond the River and in Egypt, and serve the LORD.

¹⁵And if it is evil in your eyes to serve the LORD, choose this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your fathers served in the region beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you dwell. But as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD.”

¹⁶Then the people answered, “Far be it from us that we should forsake the LORD to serve other gods,

¹⁷for it is the LORD our God who brought us and our fathers up from the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery, and who did those great signs in our sight and preserved us in all the way that we went, and among all the peoples through whom we passed.

¹⁸And the LORD drove out before us all the peoples, the Amorites who lived in the land. Therefore we also will serve the LORD, for he is our God.”

¹⁹But Joshua said to the people, “You are not able to serve the LORD, for he is a holy God. He is a jealous God; he will not forgive your transgressions or your sins.

²⁰If you forsake the LORD and serve foreign gods, then he will turn and do you harm and consume you, after having done you good.”

²¹And the people said to Joshua, “No, but we will serve the LORD.”

²²Then Joshua said to the people, “You are witnesses against yourselves that you have chosen the LORD, to serve him.” And they said, “We are witnesses.”

²³He said, “Then put away the foreign gods that are among you, and incline your heart to the LORD, the God of Israel.”

²⁴And the people said to Joshua, “The LORD our God we will serve, and his voice we will obey.”

²⁵So Joshua made a covenant with the people that day, and put in place statutes and rules for them at Shechem.

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

²⁷And Joshua said to all the people, “Behold, this stone shall be a witness against us, for it has heard all the words of the LORD that he spoke to us. Therefore it shall be a witness against you, lest you deal falsely with your God.”

²⁸So Joshua sent the people away, every man to his inheritance.

²⁹After these things Joshua the son of Nun, the servant of the LORD, died, being 110 years old.

³⁰And they buried him in his own inheritance at Timnath-serah, which is in the hill country of Ephraim, north of the mountain of 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 work that the LORD did for Israel.

³²As for the bones of Joseph, which the people of Israel brought up from Egypt, they buried them at Shechem, in the piece of land that Jacob bought from the sons of Hamor the father of Shechem for a hundred pieces of money. It became an inheritance of the descendants of Joseph.

³³And Eleazar the son of Aaron died, and they buried him at Gibeah, the town of Phinehas his son, which had been given him in the hill country of Ephraim.

¹Behold, the LORD will empty the earth and make it desolate, and he will twist its surface and scatter its inhabitants.

²And it shall be, as with the people, so with the priest; as with the slave, so with his master; as with the maid, so with her mistress; as with the buyer, so with the seller; as with the lender, so with the borrower; as with the creditor, so with the debtor.

³The earth shall be utterly empty and utterly plundered; for the LORD has spoken this word.

⁴The earth mourns and withers; the world languishes and withers; the highest people of the earth languish.

⁵The earth lies defiled under its inhabitants; for they have transgressed the laws, violated the statutes, broken the everlasting covenant.

⁶Therefore a curse devours the earth, and its inhabitants suffer for their guilt; therefore the inhabitants of the earth are scorched, and few men are left.

⁷The wine mourns, the vine languishes, all the merry-hearted sigh.

⁸The mirth of the tambourines is stilled, the noise of the jubilant has ceased, the mirth of the lyre is stilled.

⁹No more do they drink wine with singing; strong drink is bitter to those who drink it.

¹⁰The wasted city is broken down; every house is shut up so that none can enter.

¹¹There is an outcry in the streets for lack of wine; all joy has grown dark; the gladness of the earth is banished.

¹²Desolation is left in the city; the gates are battered into ruins.

¹³For thus it shall be in the midst of the earth among the nations, as when an olive tree is beaten, as at the gleaning when the grape harvest is done.

¹⁴They lift up their voices, they sing for joy; over the majesty of the LORD they shout from the west.

¹⁵Therefore in the east give glory to the LORD; in the coastlands of the sea, give glory to the name of the LORD, the God of Israel.

¹⁶From the ends of the earth we hear songs of praise, of glory to the Righteous One. But I say, “I waste away, I waste away. Woe is me! For the traitors have betrayed, with betrayal the traitors have betrayed.”

¹⁷Terror and the pit and the snare are upon you, O inhabitant of the earth!

¹⁸He who flees at the sound of the terror shall fall into the pit, and he who climbs out of the pit shall be caught in the snare. For the windows of heaven are opened, and the foundations of the earth tremble.

¹⁹The earth is utterly broken, the earth is split apart, the earth is violently shaken.

²⁰The earth staggers like a drunken man; it sways like a hut; its transgression lies heavy upon it, and it falls, and will not rise again.

²¹On that day the LORD will punish the host of heaven, in heaven, and the kings of the earth, on the earth.

²²They will be gathered together as prisoners in a pit; they will be shut up in a prison, and after many days they will be punished.

²³Then the moon will be confounded and the sun ashamed, for the LORD of hosts reigns on Mount Zion and in Jerusalem, and his glory will be before his elders.

¹And after five days the high priest Ananias came down with some elders and a spokesman, one Tertullus. They laid before the governor their case against Paul.

²And when he had been summoned, Tertullus began to accuse him, saying: “Since through you we enjoy much peace, and since by your foresight, most excellent Felix, reforms are being made for this nation,

³in every way and everywhere we accept this with all gratitude.

⁴But, to detain you no further, I beg you in your kindness to hear us briefly.

⁵For we have found this man a plague, one who stirs up riots among all the Jews throughout the world and is a ringleader of the sect of the Nazarenes.

⁶He even tried to profane the temple, but we seized him.

⁷

⁸By examining him yourself you will be able to find out from him about everything of which we accuse him.”

⁹The Jews also joined in the charge, affirming that all these things were so.

¹⁰And when the governor had nodded to him to speak, Paul replied: “Knowing that for many years you have been a judge over this nation, I cheerfully make my defense.

¹¹You can verify that it is not more than twelve days since I went up to worship in Jerusalem,

¹²and they did not find me disputing with anyone or stirring up a crowd, either in the temple or in the synagogues or in the city.

¹³Neither can they prove to you what they now bring up against me.

¹⁴But this I confess to you, that according to the Way, which they call a sect, I worship the God of our fathers, believing everything laid down by the Law and written in the Prophets,

¹⁵having a hope in God, which these men themselves accept, that there will be a resurrection of both the just and the unjust.

¹⁶So I always take pains to have a clear conscience toward both God and man.

¹⁷Now after several years I came to bring alms to my nation and to present offerings.

¹⁸While I was doing this, they found me purified in the temple, without any crowd or tumult. But some Jews from Asia —

¹⁹they ought to be here before you and to make an accusation, should they have anything against me.

²⁰Or else let these men themselves say what wrongdoing they found when I stood before the council,

²¹other than this one thing that I cried out while standing among them: ‘It is with respect to the resurrection of the dead that I am on trial before you this day.’”

²²But Felix, having a rather accurate knowledge of the Way, put them off, saying, “When Lysias the tribune comes down, I will decide your case.”

²³Then he gave orders to the centurion that he should be kept in custody but have some liberty, and that none of his friends should be prevented from attending to his needs.

²⁴After some days Felix came with his wife Drusilla, who was Jewish, and he sent for Paul and heard him speak about faith in Christ Jesus.

²⁵And as he reasoned about righteousness and self-control and the coming judgment, Felix was alarmed and said, “Go away for the present. When I get an opportunity I will summon you.”

²⁶At the same time he hoped that money would be given him by Paul. So he sent for him often and conversed with him.

²⁷When two years had elapsed, Felix was succeeded by Porcius Festus. And desiring to do the Jews a favor, Felix left Paul in prison.