Professor Horner’s Reading Plan

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

²Then he asked them, “You see all these, do you not? Truly I tell you, not one stone will be left here upon another; all will be thrown down.”

³When he was sitting on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to him privately, saying, “Tell us, when will this be, and what will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age?”

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

⁵For many will come in my name, saying, ‘I am the Messiah!’ 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 this is but the beginning of the birth pangs.

⁹“Then they will hand you over to be tortured and will put you to death, and you will be hated by all nations because of my name.

¹⁰Then many will fall away, and they will betray one another and hate one another.

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

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

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

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

¹⁵“So when you see the desolating sacrilege standing in the holy place, as was spoken of by the prophet Daniel (let the reader understand),

¹⁶then those in Judea must flee to the mountains;

¹⁷the one on the housetop must not go down to take what is in the house;

¹⁸the one in the field must not turn back to get a coat.

¹⁹Woe to those who are pregnant and to those who are nursing infants in those days!

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

²¹For at that time there will be great suffering, 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 one would be saved; but for the sake of the elect those days will be cut short.

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

²⁴For false messiahs and false prophets will appear and produce great signs and omens, to lead astray, if possible, even the elect.

²⁵Take note, 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.

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

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

²⁹“Immediately after the suffering 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 heaven 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 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 forth 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.

³⁴Truly I tell you, this generation will not pass away until all these things have taken place.

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

³⁶“But about that day and hour no one knows, neither the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father.

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

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

³⁹and they knew nothing until the flood came and swept them all away, so too will be the coming of the Son of Man.

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

⁴¹Two women will be grinding meal together; one will be taken and one will be left.

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

⁴³But understand this: if the owner 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 unexpected hour.

⁴⁵“Who then is the faithful and wise slave, whom his master has put in charge of his household, to give the other slaves their allowance of food at the proper time?

⁴⁶Blessed is that slave whom his master will find at work when he arrives.

⁴⁷Truly I tell you, he will put that one in charge of all his possessions.

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

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

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

⁵¹He will cut him in pieces and put him with the hypocrites, where 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.

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

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

⁴but will go to my country and to my kindred and get 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 birth, 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 kinds of choice gifts from his master; and he set out and went to Aram-naharaim, to the city of Nahor.

¹¹He made the camels kneel down outside the city by the well of water; it was toward 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.

¹³I am standing here by the spring of water, and the daughters of the townspeople are coming out to draw water.

¹⁴Let the girl to whom I shall say, ‘Please offer 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, there was Rebekah, who was born to Bethuel son of Milcah, the wife of Nahor, Abraham’s brother, coming out with her water jar on her shoulder.

¹⁶The girl was very fair to look upon, a virgin, whom no man had known. She went down to the spring, filled her jar, and came up.

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

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

¹⁹When she had finished giving him a drink, she said, “I will draw 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, and she drew for all his camels.

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

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

²³and said, “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 son of Milcah, whom she bore to Nahor.”

²⁵She added, “We have plenty of straw and fodder and a place 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 on the way to the house of my master’s kin.”

²⁸Then the girl ran and told her mother’s household about these things.

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

³⁰As soon as he had seen the nose-ring, and the bracelets on his sister’s arms, and when he heard the words of his sister Rebekah, “Thus the man spoke to me,” he went to the man; and there he was, standing by the camels at the spring.

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

³²So the man came into the house; and Laban unloaded the camels, and gave him straw and fodder for the camels, and 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 told my errand.” He said, “Speak on.”

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

³⁵The LORD has greatly blessed my master, and he has become wealthy; he has given him flocks and herds, silver and gold, male and female slaves, camels and donkeys.

³⁶And Sarah my master’s wife bore a son to my master when she was old; and he has given him 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 live;

³⁸but you shall go to my father’s house, to my kindred, and get 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 walk, will send his angel with you and make your way successful. You shall get a wife for my son from my kindred, from my father’s house.

⁴¹Then you will be free from my oath, when you come to my kindred; even 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 will only make successful the way I am going!

⁴³I am standing here by the spring of water; let the young woman who comes out to draw, 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, there was Rebekah coming out with her water jar on her shoulder; and she went down to the spring, and drew. I said to her, ‘Please let me drink.’

⁴⁶She 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.’ 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 obtain the daughter of my master’s kinsman for his son.

⁴⁹Now then, if you will deal loyally and truly with my master, tell me; and if not, tell me, so that I may turn either to the right hand or to the left.”

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

⁵¹Look, 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 ground 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.

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

⁵⁵Her brother and her mother said, “Let the girl 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 made my journey successful; let me go that I may go to my master.”

⁵⁷They said, “We will call the girl, and ask her.”

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

⁵⁹So they sent away their sister Rebekah and her nurse along with Abraham’s servant and his men.

⁶⁰And they blessed Rebekah and said to her, “May you, our sister, become thousands of myriads; may your offspring gain possession of the gates of their foes.”

⁶¹Then Rebekah and her maids rose up, mounted the camels, and followed the man; thus the servant took Rebekah, and went his way.

⁶²Now Isaac had come from Beer-lahai-roi, and was settled in the Negeb.

⁶³Isaac went out in the evening to walk in the field; and looking up, he saw camels coming.

⁶⁴And Rebekah looked up, and when she saw Isaac, she slipped quickly from the camel,

⁶⁵and said to the servant, “Who is the man over there, 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 his mother Sarah’s tent. He took Rebekah, and she became his wife; and he loved her. So Isaac was comforted after his mother’s death.

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

²Anyone who claims to know something does not yet have the necessary knowledge;

³but anyone who loves God is known by him.

⁴Hence, as to the eating of food offered to idols, we know that “no idol in the world really exists,” and that “there is no God but one.”

⁵Indeed, even though there may be so-called gods in heaven or on earth — as in fact 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.

⁷It is not everyone, however, who has this knowledge. Since some have become so accustomed to idols until now, they still think of the food they eat as food offered to an idol; and their conscience, being weak, is defiled.

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

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

¹⁰For if others see you, who possess knowledge, eating in the temple of an idol, might they not, since their conscience is weak, be encouraged to the point of eating food sacrificed to idols?

¹¹So by your knowledge those weak believers for whom Christ died are destroyed.

¹²But when you thus sin against members of your family, and wound their conscience when it is weak, you sin against Christ.

¹³Therefore, if food is a cause of their falling, I will never eat meat, so that I may not cause one of them to fall.

¹My brothers and sisters, do you with your acts of favoritism really believe in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ?

²For if a person with gold rings and in fine clothes comes into your assembly, and if a poor person in dirty clothes also comes in,

³and if you take notice of the one wearing the fine clothes and say, “Have a seat here, please,” while to the one who is poor you say, “Stand there,” or, “Sit at my feet,”

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

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

⁶But you have dishonored the poor. Is it not the rich who oppress you? Is it not they who drag you into court?

⁷Is it not they who blaspheme the excellent name that was invoked over you?

⁸You do well if you really fulfill the royal law according to the scripture, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”

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

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

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

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

¹³For judgment will be without mercy to anyone who has shown no mercy; mercy triumphs over judgment.

¹⁴What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if you say you have faith but do not have works? Can faith save you?

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

¹⁶and one of you says to them, “Go in peace; keep warm and eat your fill,” and yet you do not supply their bodily needs, what is the good of that?

¹⁷So faith by itself, if it has no works, is dead.

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

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

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

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

²²You see that faith was active along with his works, and faith was brought to completion by the works.

²³Thus the scripture was fulfilled that says, “Abraham believed God, and it was reckoned to him as righteousness,” and he was called the friend of God.

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

²⁵Likewise, was not Rahab the prostitute also justified by works when she welcomed the messengers and sent them out by another road?

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

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

²The wicked remove landmarks; they seize flocks and pasture them.

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

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

⁵Like wild asses in the desert they go out to their toil, scavenging in the wasteland food for their young.

⁶They reap in a field not their own and they glean in the vineyard of the wicked.

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 want of shelter.

⁹“There are those who snatch the orphan child from the breast, and take as a pledge the infant of the poor.

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

¹¹between their terraces they press out oil; they tread the wine presses, but suffer thirst.

¹²From the city the dying groan, and the throat of the wounded cries for help; yet God pays no attention to their prayer.

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 at dusk to kill the poor and needy, and in the night is like a thief.

¹⁵The eye of the adulterer also waits for the twilight, saying, ‘No eye will see me’; and he disguises 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“Swift are they on the face of the waters; their portion in the land is cursed; 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 harm the 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; his eyes are upon their ways.

²⁴They are exalted a little while, and then are gone; they wither and fade like the mallow; 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 all that is in it, the world, and those who live in it;

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

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

⁴Those who have clean hands and pure hearts, who do not lift up their souls to what is false, and do not swear deceitfully.

⁵They will receive blessing from the LORD, and vindication from the God of their salvation.

⁶Such is the company 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 the King of glory? The LORD, strong and mighty, the LORD, mighty in battle.

⁹Lift up your heads, O gates! and be lifted 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

¹Do not envy the wicked, nor desire to be with them;

²for their minds devise violence, and their lips talk of mischief.

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

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

⁵Wise warriors are mightier than strong ones, and those who have knowledge than those who have strength;

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

⁷Wisdom is too high for fools; in the gate they do not open their mouths.

⁸Whoever plans to do evil will be called a mischief-maker.

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

¹⁰If you faint in the day of adversity, your strength being small;

¹¹if you hold back from rescuing those taken away to death, those who go staggering to the slaughter;

¹²if you say, “Look, 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 all according to their deeds?

¹³My child, 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, you will find a future, and your hope will not be cut off.

¹⁵Do not lie in wait like an outlaw against the home of the righteous; do no violence to the place where the righteous live;

¹⁶for though they fall seven times, they will rise again; but the wicked are overthrown by calamity.

¹⁷Do not rejoice when your enemies fall, and do not let your heart be glad when they stumble,

¹⁸or else the LORD will see it and be displeased, and turn away his anger from them.

¹⁹Do not fret because of evildoers. Do not envy the wicked;

²⁰for the evil have no future; the lamp of the wicked will go out.

²¹My child, fear the LORD and the king, and do not disobey either of them;

²²for disaster comes from them suddenly, and who knows the ruin that both can bring?

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

²⁴Whoever says to the wicked, “You are innocent,” 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.

²⁶One who gives an honest answer gives a kiss on the lips.

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

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

²⁹Do not say, “I will do to others as they have done to me; I will pay them back for what they have done.”

³⁰I passed by the field of one who was lazy, by the vineyard of a stupid person;

³¹and see, 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 warrior.

¹Then Joshua 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 ancestors — Terah and his sons Abraham and Nahor — lived beyond the Euphrates and 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. I gave Esau the hill country of Seir to possess, but Jacob and his children went down to Egypt.

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

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

⁷When they cried out 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 to Egypt. Afterwards 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 handed them over to you, and you took possession of their land, and I destroyed them before you.

⁹Then King Balak son of Zippor of Moab, set out to fight against Israel. He sent and invited Balaam son of Beor to curse you,

¹⁰but I would not listen to Balaam; therefore he blessed you; so I rescued you out of his hand.

¹¹When you went over the Jordan and came to Jericho, the citizens of Jericho fought against you, and also the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Girgashites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites; and I handed them over to you.

¹²I sent the hornet ahead of you, which drove 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 towns that you had not built, and you live in them; you eat the fruit of vineyards and oliveyards that you did not plant.

¹⁴“Now therefore revere the LORD, and serve him in sincerity and in faithfulness; put away the gods that your ancestors served beyond the River and in Egypt, and serve the LORD.

¹⁵Now if you are unwilling to serve the LORD, choose this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your ancestors served in the region beyond the River or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you are living; but as for me and my household, 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 ancestors up from the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery, and who did those great signs in our sight. He protected us along 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 cannot 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, 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 hearts to the LORD, the God of Israel.”

²⁴The people said to Joshua, “The LORD our God we will serve, and him we will obey.”

²⁵So Joshua made a covenant with the people that day, and made statutes and ordinances for them at Shechem.

²⁶Joshua 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 in the sanctuary of the LORD.

²⁷Joshua said to all the people, “See, 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, if you deal falsely with your God.”

²⁸So Joshua sent the people away to their inheritances.

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

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

³²The bones of Joseph, which the Israelites had brought up from Egypt, were buried at Shechem, in the portion of ground that Jacob had bought from the children of Hamor, the father of Shechem, for one hundred pieces of money; it became an inheritance of the descendants of Joseph.

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

¹Now the LORD is about to lay waste 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 laid waste and utterly despoiled; for the LORD has spoken this word.

⁴The earth dries up and withers, the world languishes and withers; the heavens languish together with the earth.

⁵The earth lies polluted under its inhabitants; for they have transgressed 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 dwindled, and few people are left.

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

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

⁹No longer do they drink wine with singing; 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 can enter.

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

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

¹³For thus it shall be on the earth and among the nations, as when an olive tree is beaten, as at the gleaning when the grape harvest is ended.

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

¹⁵Therefore in the east give glory to the LORD; in the coastlands of the sea glorify 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 pine away, I pine away. Woe is me! For the treacherous deal treacherously, the treacherous deal very treacherously.

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

¹⁸Whoever flees at the sound of the terror shall fall into the pit; and whoever 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 torn asunder, the earth is violently shaken.

²⁰The earth staggers like a drunkard, 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 on earth the kings of the earth.

²²They will be gathered together like 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 abashed, and the sun ashamed; for the LORD of hosts will reign on Mount Zion and in Jerusalem, and before his elders he will manifest his glory.

¹Five days later the high priest Ananias came down with some elders and an attorney, a certain Tertullus, and they reported their case against Paul to the governor.

²When Paul had been summoned, Tertullus began to accuse him, saying: “Your Excellency, because of you we have long enjoyed peace, and reforms have been made for this people because of your foresight.

³We welcome this in every way and everywhere with utmost gratitude.

⁴But, to detain you no further, I beg you to hear us briefly with your customary graciousness.

⁵We have, in fact, found this man a pestilent fellow, an agitator among all the Jews throughout the world, and a ringleader of the sect of the Nazarenes.

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

⁷

⁸By examining him yourself you will be able to learn from him concerning everything of which we accuse him.”

⁹The Jews also joined in the charge by asserting that all this was true.

¹⁰When the governor motioned to him to speak, Paul replied: “I cheerfully make my defense, knowing that for many years you have been a judge over this nation.

¹¹As you can find out, it is not more than twelve days since I went up to worship in Jerusalem.

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

¹³Neither can they prove to you the charge that they now bring against me.

¹⁴But this I admit to you, that according to the Way, which they call a sect, I worship the God of our ancestors, believing everything laid down according to the law or written in the prophets.

¹⁵I have a hope in God — a hope that they themselves also accept — that there will be a resurrection of both the righteous and the unrighteous.

¹⁶Therefore I do my best always to have a clear conscience toward God and all people.

¹⁷Now after some years I came to bring alms to my nation and to offer sacrifices.

¹⁸While I was doing this, they found me in the temple, completing the rite of purification, without any crowd or disturbance.

¹⁹But there were some Jews from Asia — they ought to be here before you to make an accusation, if they have anything against me.

²⁰Or let these men here tell what crime they had found when I stood before the council,

²¹unless it was this one sentence that I called out while standing before them, ‘It is about the resurrection of the dead that I am on trial before you today.’”

²²But Felix, who was rather well informed about the Way, adjourned the hearing with the comment, “When Lysias the tribune comes down, I will decide your case.”

²³Then he ordered the centurion to keep him in custody, but to let him have some liberty and not to prevent any of his friends from taking care of his needs.

²⁴Some days later when Felix came with his wife Drusilla, who was Jewish, he sent for Paul and heard him speak concerning faith in Christ Jesus.

²⁵And as he discussed justice, self-control, and the coming judgment, Felix became frightened and said, “Go away for the present; when I have an opportunity, I will send for you.”

²⁶At the same time he hoped that money would be given him by Paul, and for that reason he used to send for him very often and converse with him.

²⁷After two years had passed, Felix was succeeded by Porcius Festus; and since he wanted to grant the Jews a favor, Felix left Paul in prison.