Professor Horner’s Reading Plan

¹Then Jesus went out and departed from the temple, and His disciples came up to show Him the buildings of the temple.

²And Jesus said to them, “Do you not see all these things? Assuredly, I say to you, not one stone shall be left here upon another, that shall not be thrown down.”

³Now as 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 and said to them: “Take heed that no one deceives you.

⁵For many will come in My name, saying, ‘I am the Christ,’ and will deceive many.

⁶And you will hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not troubled; for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet.

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

⁸All these are the beginning of sorrows.

⁹“Then they will deliver you up to tribulation and kill you, and you will be hated by all nations for My name’s sake.

¹⁰And then many will be offended, will betray one another, and will hate one another.

¹¹Then many false prophets will rise up and deceive many.

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

¹³But he who endures to the end shall be saved.

¹⁴And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in all the world as a witness to all the nations, and then the end will come.

¹⁵“Therefore when you see the ‘abomination of desolation,’ spoken of by Daniel the prophet, standing in the holy place” (whoever reads, let him understand),

¹⁶“then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains.

¹⁷Let him who is on the housetop not go down to take anything out of his house.

¹⁸And let him who is in the field not go back to get his clothes.

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

²⁰And pray that your flight may not be in winter or on the Sabbath.

²¹For then there will be great tribulation, such as has not been since the beginning of the world until this time, no, nor ever shall be.

²²And unless those days were shortened, no flesh would be saved; but for the elect’s sake those days will be shortened.

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

²⁴For false christs and false prophets will rise and show great signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect.

²⁵See, I have told you beforehand.

²⁶“Therefore if they say to you, ‘Look, He is in the desert!’ do not go out; or ‘Look, He is in the inner rooms!’ do not believe it.

²⁷For as the lightning comes from the east and flashes to the west, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be.

²⁸For wherever the carcass is, there the eagles will be gathered together.

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

³⁰Then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in heaven, 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 His angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they will gather together His elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.

³²“Now learn this parable from the fig tree: When its branch has already become tender and puts forth leaves, you know that summer is near.

³³So you also, when you see all these things, know that it is near—at the doors!

³⁴Assuredly, I say to you, this generation will by no means pass away till all these things take place.

³⁵Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will by no means pass away.

³⁶“But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, but My Father only.

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

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

³⁹and did not know until the flood came and took them all away, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be.

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

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

⁴²Watch therefore, for you do not know what hour your Lord is coming.

⁴³But know this, that if the master of the house had known what hour the thief would come, he would have watched and not allowed his house to be broken into.

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

⁴⁵“Who then is a faithful and wise servant, whom his master made ruler over his household, to give them food in due season?

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

⁴⁷Assuredly, I say to you that he will make him ruler over all his goods.

⁴⁸But if that evil servant says in his heart, ‘My master is delaying his coming,’

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

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

⁵¹and will cut him in two and appoint him his portion with the hypocrites. There shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

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

²So Abraham said to the oldest servant of his house, who ruled over all that he had, “Please, put your hand under my thigh,

³and I will make you swear by the LORD, the God of heaven and the 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 you shall go to my country and to my family, and take a wife for my son Isaac.”

⁵And the servant said to him, “Perhaps the woman will not be willing to follow me to this land. Must I take your son back to the land from which you came?”

⁶But Abraham said to him, “Beware that you do not take my son back there.

⁷The LORD God of heaven, who took me from my father’s house and from the land of my family, and who spoke to me and swore to me, saying, ‘To your descendants I give this land,’ He will send His angel before you, and you shall take a wife for my son from there.

⁸And if the woman is not willing to follow you, then you will be released from this oath; only do 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, for all his master’s goods were in his hand. And he arose and went to Mesopotamia, to the city of Nahor.

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

¹²Then he said, “O LORD God of my master Abraham, please give me success this day, and show kindness to my master Abraham.

¹³Behold, here I stand by the well of water, and the daughters of the men of the city are coming out to draw water.

¹⁴Now let it be that the young woman to whom I say, ‘Please let down your pitcher that I may drink,’ and she says, ‘Drink, and I will also give your camels a drink’—let her be the one You have appointed for Your servant Isaac. And by this I will know that You have shown kindness to my master.”

¹⁵And it happened, before he had finished speaking, that behold, Rebekah, who was born to Bethuel, son of Milcah, the wife of Nahor, Abraham’s brother, came out with her pitcher on her shoulder.

¹⁶Now the young woman was very beautiful to behold, a virgin; no man had known her. And she went down to the well, filled her pitcher, and came up.

¹⁷And the servant ran to meet her and said, “Please let me drink a little water from your pitcher.”

¹⁸So she said, “Drink, my lord.” Then she quickly let her pitcher down to her hand, and gave him a drink.

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

²⁰Then she quickly emptied her pitcher into the trough, ran back to the well to draw water, and drew for all his camels.

²¹And the man, wondering at her, remained silent so as to know whether the LORD had made his journey prosperous or not.

²²So it was, when the camels had finished drinking, that the man took a golden nose ring weighing half a shekel, and two bracelets for her wrists weighing ten shekels of gold,

²³and said, “Whose daughter are you? Tell me, please, is there room in your father’s house for us to lodge?”

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

²⁵Moreover she said to him, “We have both straw and feed enough, and room to lodge.”

²⁶Then the man bowed down his head and worshiped the LORD.

²⁷And he said, “Blessed be the LORD God of my master Abraham, who has not forsaken His mercy and His truth toward my master. As for me, being on the way, the LORD led me to the house of my master’s brethren.”

²⁸So the young woman ran and told her mother’s household these things.

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

³⁰So it came to pass, when he saw the nose ring, and the bracelets on his sister’s wrists, and when he heard the words of his sister Rebekah, saying, “Thus the man spoke to me,” that he went to the man. And there he stood by the camels at the well.

³¹And he 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.”

³²Then the man came to the house. And he unloaded the camels, and provided straw and feed for the camels, and water to wash his feet and the feet of the men who were with him.

³³Food was set before him to eat, but he said, “I will not eat until I have told about my errand.” And he said, “Speak on.”

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

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

³⁷Now my 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 family, and take a wife for my son.’

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

⁴⁰But he said to me, ‘The LORD, before whom I walk, will send His angel with you and prosper your way; and you shall take a wife for my son from my family and from my father’s house.

⁴¹You will be clear from this oath when you arrive among my family; for if they will not give her to you, then you will be released from my oath.’

⁴²“And this day I came to the well and said, ‘O LORD God of my master Abraham, if You will now prosper the way in which I go,

⁴³behold, I stand by the well of water; and it shall come to pass that when the virgin comes out to draw water, and I say to her, “Please give me a little water from your pitcher to drink,”

⁴⁴and she says 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“But before I had finished speaking in my heart, there was Rebekah, coming out with her pitcher on her shoulder; and she went down to the well and drew water. And I said to her, ‘Please let me drink.’

⁴⁶And she made haste and let her pitcher down from her shoulder, and said, ‘Drink, and I will give your camels a drink also.’ So I drank, and she gave the camels a drink also.

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

⁴⁸And I bowed my head and worshiped the LORD, and blessed the LORD God of my master Abraham, who had led me in the way of truth to take the daughter of my master’s brother for his son.

⁴⁹Now if you will deal kindly and truly with 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 comes from the LORD; we cannot speak to you either bad or good.

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

⁵²And it came to pass, when Abraham’s servant heard their words, that he worshiped the LORD, bowing himself to the earth.

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

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

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

⁵⁶And he said to them, “Do not hinder me, since the LORD has prospered my way; send me away so that I may go to my master.”

⁵⁷So they said, “We will call the young woman and ask her personally.”

⁵⁸Then they called Rebekah and said to her, “Will you go with this man?” And 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 The mother of thousands of ten thousands; And may your descendants possess The gates of those who hate them.”

⁶¹Then Rebekah and her maids arose, and they rode on the camels and followed the man. So the servant took Rebekah and departed.

⁶²Now Isaac came from the way of Beer Lahai Roi, for he dwelt in the South.

⁶³And Isaac went out to meditate in the field in the evening; and he lifted his eyes and looked, and there, the camels were coming.

⁶⁴Then Rebekah lifted her eyes, and when she saw Isaac she dismounted from her camel;

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

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

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

¹Now concerning things offered to idols: We know that we all have knowledge. Knowledge puffs up, but love edifies.

²And if anyone thinks that he knows anything, he knows nothing yet as he ought to know.

³But if anyone loves God, this one is known by Him.

⁴Therefore concerning the eating of things offered to idols, we know that an idol is nothing in the world, and that there is no other God but one.

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

⁶yet for us there is one God, the Father, of whom are all things, and we for Him; and one Lord Jesus Christ, through whom are all things, and through whom we live.

⁷However, there is not in everyone that knowledge; for some, with consciousness of the idol, until now eat it as a thing offered to an idol; and their conscience, being weak, is defiled.

⁸But food does not commend us to God; for neither if we eat are we the better, nor if we do not eat are we the worse.

⁹But beware lest somehow this liberty of yours become a stumbling block to those who are weak.

¹⁰For if anyone sees you who have knowledge eating in an idol’s temple, will not the conscience of him who is weak be emboldened to eat those things offered to idols?

¹¹And because of your knowledge shall the weak brother perish, for whom Christ died?

¹²But when you thus sin against the brethren, and wound their weak conscience, you sin against Christ.

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

¹My brethren, do not hold the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory, with partiality.

²For if there should come into your assembly a man with gold rings, in fine apparel, and there should also come in a poor man in filthy clothes,

³and you pay attention to the one wearing the fine clothes and say to him, “You sit here in a good place,” and say to the poor man, “You stand there,” or, “Sit here at my footstool,”

⁴have you not shown partiality among yourselves, and become judges with evil thoughts?

⁵Listen, my beloved brethren: Has God not chosen the poor of this world to be rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom which He promised to those who love Him?

⁶But you have dishonored the poor man. Do not the rich oppress you and drag you into the courts?

⁷Do they not blaspheme that noble name by which you are called?

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

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

¹⁰For whoever shall keep the whole law, and yet stumble in one point, he is guilty of all.

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

¹²So speak and so do as those who will be judged by the law of liberty.

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

¹⁴What does it profit, my brethren, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can faith save him?

¹⁵If a brother or sister is naked and destitute of daily food,

¹⁶and one of you says to them, “Depart in peace, be warmed and filled,” but you do not give them the things which are needed for the body, what does it profit?

¹⁷Thus 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 without your works, and I will show you my faith by my works.

¹⁹You believe that there is one God. You do well. Even the demons believe—and tremble!

²⁰But do you want to know, O foolish man, that faith without works is dead?

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

²²Do you see that faith was working together with his works, and by works faith was made perfect?

²³And the Scripture was fulfilled which says, “Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness.” And he was called the friend of God.

²⁴You see then that a man is justified by works, and not by faith only.

²⁵Likewise, was not Rahab the harlot also justified by works when she received the messengers and sent them out another way?

²⁶For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also.

¹“Since times are not hidden from the Almighty, Why do those who know Him see not His days?

²“Some remove landmarks; They seize flocks violently and feed on them;

³They drive away the donkey of the fatherless; They take the widow’s ox as a pledge.

⁴They push the needy off the road; All the poor of the land are forced to hide.

⁵Indeed, like wild donkeys in the desert, They go out to their work, searching for food. The wilderness yields food for them and for their children.

⁶They gather their fodder in the field And glean in the vineyard of the wicked.

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

⁸They are wet with the showers of the mountains, And huddle around the rock for want of shelter.

⁹“Some snatch the fatherless from the breast, And take a pledge from the poor.

¹⁰They cause the poor to go naked, without clothing; And they take away the sheaves from the hungry.

¹¹They press out oil within their walls, And tread winepresses, yet suffer thirst.

¹²The dying groan in the city, And the souls of the wounded cry out; Yet God does not charge them with wrong.

¹³“There are those who rebel against the light; They do not know its ways Nor abide in its paths.

¹⁴The murderer rises with the light; He kills the poor and needy; And in the night he is like a thief.

¹⁵The eye of the adulterer waits for the twilight, Saying, ‘No eye will see me’; And he disguises his face.

¹⁶In the dark they break into houses Which they marked for themselves in the daytime; They do not know the light.

¹⁷For the morning is the same to them as the shadow of death; If someone recognizes them, They are in the terrors of the shadow of death.

¹⁸“They should be swift on the face of the waters, Their portion should be cursed in the earth, So that no one would turn into the way of their vineyards.

¹⁹As drought and heat consume the snow waters, So the grave consumes those who have sinned.

²⁰The womb should forget him, The worm should feed sweetly on him; He should be remembered no more, And wickedness should be broken like a tree.

²¹For he preys on the barren who do not bear, And does no good for the widow.

²²“But God draws the mighty away with His power; He rises up, but no man is sure of life.

²³He gives them security, and they rely on it; Yet His eyes are on their ways.

²⁴They are exalted for a little while, Then they are gone. They are brought low; They are taken out of the way like all others; They dry out like the heads of grain.

²⁵“Now if it is not so, who will prove me a liar, And make my speech worth nothing?”

¹A Psalm of David. [1] The earth is the LORD’s, and all its fullness, The world and those who dwell therein.

²For He has founded it upon the seas, And established it upon the waters.

³Who may ascend into the hill of the LORD? Or who may stand in His holy place?

⁴He who has clean hands and a pure heart, Who has not lifted up his soul to an idol, Nor sworn deceitfully.

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

⁶This is Jacob, the generation of those who seek Him, Who seek Your face. Selah

⁷Lift up your heads, O you gates! And be lifted up, you everlasting doors! And the King of glory shall come in.

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

⁹Lift up your heads, O you gates! Lift up, you everlasting doors! And the King of glory shall come in.

¹⁰Who is this King of glory? The LORD of hosts, He is the King of glory. Selah

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

²For their heart devises violence, And their lips talk of troublemaking.

³Through 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 strong, Yes, a man of knowledge increases strength;

⁶For by wise counsel you will wage your own war, And in a multitude of counselors there is safety.

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

⁸He who plots to do evil Will be called a schemer.

⁹The devising of foolishness is sin, And the scoffer is an abomination to men.

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

¹¹Deliver those who are drawn toward death, And hold back those stumbling to the slaughter.

¹²If you say, “Surely we did not know this,” Does not He who weighs the hearts consider it? He who keeps your soul, does He not know it? And will He not render to each man according to his deeds?

¹³My son, eat honey because it is good, And the honeycomb which is sweet to your taste;

¹⁴So shall the knowledge of wisdom be to your soul; If you have found it, there is a prospect, And your hope will not be cut off.

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

¹⁶For a righteous man may fall seven times And rise again, But the wicked shall fall by calamity.

¹⁷Do not rejoice when your enemy falls, And do not let your heart be glad when he stumbles;

¹⁸Lest the LORD see it, and it displease Him, And He turn away His wrath from him.

¹⁹Do not fret because of evildoers, Nor be envious of the wicked;

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

²¹My son, fear the LORD and the king; Do not associate with those given to change;

²²For their calamity will rise suddenly, And who knows the ruin those two can bring?

²³These things also belong to the wise: It is not good to show partiality in judgment.

²⁴He who says to the wicked, “You are righteous,” Him the people will curse; Nations will abhor him.

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

²⁶He who gives a right answer kisses the lips.

²⁷Prepare your outside work, Make it fit for yourself in the field; And afterward build your house.

²⁸Do not be a witness against your neighbor without cause, For would you deceive with your lips?

²⁹Do not say, “I will do to him just as he has done to me; I will render to the man according to his work.”

³⁰I went by the field of the lazy man, And by the vineyard of the man devoid of understanding;

³¹And there it was, all overgrown with thorns; Its surface was covered with nettles; Its stone wall was broken down.

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

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

³⁴So shall your poverty come like a prowler, And your need like an armed man.

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

²And Joshua said to all the people, “Thus says the LORD God of Israel: ‘Your fathers, including Terah, the father of Abraham and the father of Nahor, dwelt on the other side of the River in old times; and they served other gods.

³Then I took your father Abraham from the other side of the River, led him throughout all the land of Canaan, and multiplied his descendants and gave him Isaac.

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

⁵Also I sent Moses and Aaron, and I plagued Egypt, according to what I did among them. 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.

⁷So they cried out to the LORD; and He put darkness between you and the Egyptians, brought the sea upon them, and covered them. And your eyes saw what I did in Egypt. Then you dwelt in the wilderness a long time.

⁸And I brought you into the land of the Amorites, who dwelt on the other side of the Jordan, and they fought with you. But I gave them into your hand, that you might possess their land, and I destroyed them from before you.

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

¹⁰But I would not listen to Balaam; therefore he continued to bless you. So I delivered you out of his hand.

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

¹²I sent the hornet before you which drove them out from before you, also the two kings of the Amorites, but not with your sword or with your bow.

¹³I have given you a land for which you did not labor, and cities which you did not build, and you dwell in them; you eat of the vineyards and olive groves which you did not plant.’

¹⁴“Now therefore, fear the LORD, serve Him in sincerity and in truth, and put away the gods which your fathers served on the other side of the River and in Egypt. Serve the LORD!

¹⁵And if it seems evil to you 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 dwell. But as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD.”

¹⁶So the people answered and said: “Far be it from us that we should forsake 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, who did those great signs in our sight, and preserved us in all the way that we went and among all the people through whom we passed.

¹⁸And the LORD drove out from before us all the people, including the Amorites who dwelt in the land. We also will serve the LORD, for He is our God.”

¹⁹But Joshua said to the people, “You cannot serve the LORD, for He is a holy God. He is a jealous God; He will not forgive your transgressions nor your sins.

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

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

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

²³“Now therefore,” he said, “put away the foreign gods which are among you, and incline your heart to the LORD 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 made for them a statute and an ordinance in Shechem.

²⁶Then 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 oak that was by the sanctuary of the LORD.

²⁷And Joshua said to all the people, “Behold, this stone shall be a witness to us, for it has heard all the words of the LORD which He spoke to us. It shall therefore be a witness to you, lest you deny your God.”

²⁸So Joshua let the people depart, each to his own inheritance.

²⁹Now it came to pass after these things that Joshua the son of Nun, the servant of the LORD, died, being one hundred and ten years old.

³⁰And they buried him within the border of his inheritance at Timnath Serah, which is in the mountains 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, who had known all the works of the LORD which He had done for Israel.

³²The bones of Joseph, which the children of Israel had brought up out of Egypt, they buried at Shechem, in the plot of ground which Jacob had bought from the sons of Hamor the father of Shechem for one hundred pieces of silver, and which had become an inheritance of the children of Joseph.

³³And Eleazar the son of Aaron died. They buried him in a hill belonging to Phinehas his son, which was given to him in the mountains of Ephraim.

¹Behold, the LORD makes the earth empty and makes it waste, Distorts its surface And scatters abroad its inhabitants.

²And it shall be: As with the people, so with the priest; As with the servant, 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 land shall be entirely emptied and utterly plundered, For the LORD has spoken this word.

⁴The earth mourns and fades away, The world languishes and fades away; The haughty people of the earth languish.

⁵The earth is also defiled under its inhabitants, Because they have transgressed the laws, Changed the ordinance, Broken the everlasting covenant.

⁶Therefore the curse has devoured the earth, And those who dwell in it are desolate. Therefore the inhabitants of the earth are burned, And few men are left.

⁷The new wine fails, the vine languishes, All the merry-hearted sigh.

⁸The mirth of the tambourine ceases, The noise of the jubilant ends, The joy of the harp ceases.

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

¹⁰The city of confusion is broken down; Every house is shut up, so that none may go in.

¹¹There is a cry for wine in the streets, All joy is darkened, The mirth of the land is gone.

¹²In the city desolation is left, And the gate is stricken with destruction.

¹³When it shall be thus in the midst of the land among the people, It shall be like the shaking of an olive tree, Like the gleaning of grapes when the vintage is done.

¹⁴They shall lift up their voice, they shall sing; For the majesty of the LORD They shall cry aloud from the sea.

¹⁵Therefore glorify the LORD in the dawning light, The name of the LORD God of Israel in the coastlands of the sea.

¹⁶From the ends of the earth we have heard songs: “Glory to the righteous!” But I said, “I am ruined, ruined! Woe to me! The treacherous dealers have dealt treacherously, Indeed, the treacherous dealers have dealt very treacherously.”

¹⁷Fear and the pit and the snare Are upon you, O inhabitant of the earth.

¹⁸And it shall be That he who flees from the noise of the fear Shall fall into the pit, And he who comes up from the midst of the pit Shall be caught in the snare; For the windows from on high are open, And the foundations of the earth are shaken.

¹⁹The earth is violently broken, The earth is split open, The earth is shaken exceedingly.

²⁰The earth shall reel to and fro like a drunkard, And shall totter like a hut; Its transgression shall be heavy upon it, And it will fall, and not rise again.

²¹It shall come to pass in that day That the LORD will punish on high the host of exalted ones, And on the earth the kings of the earth.

²²They will be gathered together, As prisoners are gathered in the pit, And will be shut up in the prison; After many days they will be punished.

²³Then the moon will be disgraced And the sun ashamed; For the LORD of hosts will reign On Mount Zion and in Jerusalem And before His elders, gloriously.

¹Now after five days Ananias the high priest came down with the elders and a certain orator named Tertullus. These gave evidence to the governor against Paul.

²And when he was called upon, Tertullus began his accusation, saying: “Seeing that through you we enjoy great peace, and prosperity is being brought to this nation by your foresight,

³we accept it always and in all places, most noble Felix, with all thankfulness.

⁴Nevertheless, not to be tedious to you any further, I beg you to hear, by your courtesy, a few words from us.

⁵For we have found this man a plague, a creator of dissension among all the Jews throughout the world, and a ringleader of the sect of the Nazarenes.

⁶He even tried to profane the temple, and we seized him, and wanted to judge him according to our law.

⁷But the commander Lysias came by and with great violence took him out of our hands,

⁸commanding his accusers to come to you. By examining him yourself you may ascertain all these things of which we accuse him.”

⁹And the Jews also assented, maintaining that these things were so.

¹⁰Then Paul, after the governor had nodded to him to speak, answered: “Inasmuch as I know that you have been for many years a judge of this nation, I do the more cheerfully answer for myself,

¹¹because you may ascertain that it is no more than twelve days since I went up to Jerusalem to worship.

¹²And they neither found me in the temple disputing with anyone nor inciting the crowd, either in the synagogues or in the city.

¹³Nor can they prove the things of which they now accuse me.

¹⁴But this I confess to you, that according to the Way which they call a sect, so I worship the God of my fathers, believing all things which are written in the Law and in the Prophets.

¹⁵I have hope in God, which they themselves also accept, that there will be a resurrection of the dead, both of the just and the unjust.

¹⁶This being so, I myself always strive to have a conscience without offense toward God and men.

¹⁷“Now after many years I came to bring alms and offerings to my nation,

¹⁸in the midst of which some Jews from Asia found me purified in the temple, neither with a mob nor with tumult.

¹⁹They ought to have been here before you to object if they had anything against me.

²⁰Or else let those who are here themselves say if they found any wrongdoing in me while I stood before the council,

²¹unless it is for this one statement which I cried out, standing among them, ‘Concerning the resurrection of the dead I am being judged by you this day.’ ”

²²But when Felix heard these things, having more accurate knowledge of the Way, he adjourned the proceedings and said, “When Lysias the commander comes down, I will make a decision on your case.”

²³So he commanded the centurion to keep Paul and to let him have liberty, and told him not to forbid any of his friends to provide for or visit him.

²⁴And after some days, when Felix came with his wife Drusilla, who was Jewish, he sent for Paul and heard him concerning the faith in Christ.

²⁵Now as he reasoned about righteousness, self-control, and the judgment to come, Felix was afraid and answered, “Go away for now; when I have a convenient time I will call for you.”

²⁶Meanwhile he also hoped that money would be given him by Paul, that he might release him. Therefore he sent for him more often and conversed with him.

²⁷But after two years Porcius Festus succeeded Felix; and Felix, wanting to do the Jews a favor, left Paul bound.