Professor Horner’s Reading Plan

¹Some time later, Jesus went up to Jerusalem for one of the Jewish festivals.

²Now there is in Jerusalem near the Sheep Gate a pool, which in Aramaic is called Bethesda and which is surrounded by five covered colonnades.

³Here a great number of disabled people used to lie—the blind, the lame, the paralyzed.

⁴

⁵One who was there had been an invalid for thirty-eight years.

⁶When Jesus saw him lying there and learned that he had been in this condition for a long time, he asked him, “Do you want to get well?”

⁷“Sir,” the invalid replied, “I have no one to help me into the pool when the water is stirred. While I am trying to get in, someone else goes down ahead of me.”

⁸Then Jesus said to him, “Get up! Pick up your mat and walk.”

⁹At once the man was cured; he picked up his mat and walked. The day on which this took place was a Sabbath,

¹⁰and so the Jewish leaders said to the man who had been healed, “It is the Sabbath; the law forbids you to carry your mat.”

¹¹But he replied, “The man who made me well said to me, ‘Pick up your mat and walk.’ ”

¹²So they asked him, “Who is this fellow who told you to pick it up and walk?”

¹³The man who was healed had no idea who it was, for Jesus had slipped away into the crowd that was there.

¹⁴Later Jesus found him at the temple and said to him, “See, you are well again. Stop sinning or something worse may happen to you.”

¹⁵The man went away and told the Jewish leaders that it was Jesus who had made him well.

¹⁶So, because Jesus was doing these things on the Sabbath, the Jewish leaders began to persecute him.

¹⁷In his defense Jesus said to them, “My Father is always at his work to this very day, and I too am working.”

¹⁸For this reason they tried all the more to kill him; not only was he breaking the Sabbath, but he was even calling God his own Father, making himself equal with God.

¹⁹Jesus gave them this answer: “Very truly I tell you, the Son can do nothing by himself; he can do only what he sees his Father doing, because whatever the Father does the Son also does.

²⁰For the Father loves the Son and shows him all he does. Yes, and he will show him even greater works than these, so that you will be amazed.

²¹For just as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, even so the Son gives life to whom he is pleased to give it.

²²Moreover, the Father judges no one, but has entrusted all judgment to the Son,

²³that all may honor the Son just as they honor the Father. Whoever does not honor the Son does not honor the Father, who sent him.

²⁴“Very truly I tell you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not be judged but has crossed over from death to life.

²⁵Very truly I tell you, a time is coming and has now come when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God and those who hear will live.

²⁶For as the Father has life in himself, so he has granted the Son also to have life in himself.

²⁷And he has given him authority to judge because he is the Son of Man.

²⁸“Do not be amazed at this, for a time is coming when all who are in their graves will hear his voice

²⁹and come out—those who have done what is good will rise to live, and those who have done what is evil will rise to be condemned.

³⁰By myself I can do nothing; I judge only as I hear, and my judgment is just, for I seek not to please myself but him who sent me.

³¹“If I testify about myself, my testimony is not true.

³²There is another who testifies in my favor, and I know that his testimony about me is true.

³³“You have sent to John and he has testified to the truth.

³⁴Not that I accept human testimony; but I mention it that you may be saved.

³⁵John was a lamp that burned and gave light, and you chose for a time to enjoy his light.

³⁶“I have testimony weightier than that of John. For the works that the Father has given me to finish—the very works that I am doing—testify that the Father has sent me.

³⁷And the Father who sent me has himself testified concerning me. You have never heard his voice nor seen his form,

³⁸nor does his word dwell in you, for you do not believe the one he sent.

³⁹You study the Scriptures diligently because you think that in them you have eternal life. These are the very Scriptures that testify about me,

⁴⁰yet you refuse to come to me to have life.

⁴¹“I do not accept glory from human beings,

⁴²but I know you. I know that you do not have the love of God in your hearts.

⁴³I have come in my Father’s name, and you do not accept me; but if someone else comes in his own name, you will accept him.

⁴⁴How can you believe since you accept glory from one another but do not seek the glory that comes from the only God?

⁴⁵“But do not think I will accuse you before the Father. Your accuser is Moses, on whom your hopes are set.

⁴⁶If you believed Moses, you would believe me, for he wrote about me.

⁴⁷But since you do not believe what he wrote, how are you going to believe what I say?”

¹Then the LORD said to Moses,

²“Tell the Israelites to turn back and encamp near Pi Hahiroth, between Migdol and the sea. They are to encamp by the sea, directly opposite Baal Zephon.

³Pharaoh will think, ‘The Israelites are wandering around the land in confusion, hemmed in by the desert.’

⁴And I will harden Pharaoh’s heart, and he will pursue them. But I will gain glory for myself through Pharaoh and all his army, and the Egyptians will know that I am the LORD.” So the Israelites did this.

⁵When the king of Egypt was told that the people had fled, Pharaoh and his officials changed their minds about them and said, “What have we done? We have let the Israelites go and have lost their services!”

⁶So he had his chariot made ready and took his army with him.

⁷He took six hundred of the best chariots, along with all the other chariots of Egypt, with officers over all of them.

⁸The LORD hardened the heart of Pharaoh king of Egypt, so that he pursued the Israelites, who were marching out boldly.

⁹The Egyptians—all Pharaoh’s horses and chariots, horsemen and troops—pursued the Israelites and overtook them as they camped by the sea near Pi Hahiroth, opposite Baal Zephon.

¹⁰As Pharaoh approached, the Israelites looked up, and there were the Egyptians, marching after them. They were terrified and cried out to the LORD.

¹¹They said to Moses, “Was it because there were no graves in Egypt that you brought us to the desert to die? What have you done to us by bringing us out of Egypt?

¹²Didn’t we say to you in Egypt, ‘Leave us alone; let us serve the Egyptians’? It would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than to die in the desert!”

¹³Moses answered the people, “Do not be afraid. Stand firm and you will see the deliverance the LORD will bring you today. The Egyptians you see today you will never see again.

¹⁴The LORD will fight for you; you need only to be still.”

¹⁵Then the LORD said to Moses, “Why are you crying out to me? Tell the Israelites to move on.

¹⁶Raise your staff and stretch out your hand over the sea to divide the water so that the Israelites can go through the sea on dry ground.

¹⁷I will harden the hearts of the Egyptians so that they will go in after them. And I will gain glory through Pharaoh and all his army, through his chariots and his horsemen.

¹⁸The Egyptians will know that I am the LORD when I gain glory through Pharaoh, his chariots and his horsemen.”

¹⁹Then the angel of God, who had been traveling in front of Israel’s army, withdrew and went behind them. The pillar of cloud also moved from in front and stood behind them,

²⁰coming between the armies of Egypt and Israel. Throughout the night the cloud brought darkness to the one side and light to the other side; so neither went near the other all night long.

²¹Then Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and all that night the LORD drove the sea back with a strong east wind and turned it into dry land. The waters were divided,

²²and the Israelites went through the sea on dry ground, with a wall of water on their right and on their left.

²³The Egyptians pursued them, and all Pharaoh’s horses and chariots and horsemen followed them into the sea.

²⁴During the last watch of the night the LORD looked down from the pillar of fire and cloud at the Egyptian army and threw it into confusion.

²⁵He jammed the wheels of their chariots so that they had difficulty driving. And the Egyptians said, “Let’s get away from the Israelites! The LORD is fighting for them against Egypt.”

²⁶Then the LORD said to Moses, “Stretch out your hand over the sea so that the waters may flow back over the Egyptians and their chariots and horsemen.”

²⁷Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and at daybreak the sea went back to its place. The Egyptians were fleeing toward it, and the LORD swept them into the sea.

²⁸The water flowed back and covered the chariots and horsemen—the entire army of Pharaoh that had followed the Israelites into the sea. Not one of them survived.

²⁹But the Israelites went through the sea on dry ground, with a wall of water on their right and on their left.

³⁰That day the LORD saved Israel from the hands of the Egyptians, and Israel saw the Egyptians lying dead on the shore.

³¹And when the Israelites saw the mighty hand of the LORD displayed against the Egyptians, the people feared the LORD and put their trust in him and in Moses his servant.

¹Paul, called to be an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and our brother Sosthenes,

²To the church of God in Corinth, to those sanctified in Christ Jesus and called to be his holy people, together with all those everywhere who call on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ—their Lord and ours:

³Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

⁴I always thank my God for you because of his grace given you in Christ Jesus.

⁵For in him you have been enriched in every way—with all kinds of speech and with all knowledge—

⁶God thus confirming our testimony about Christ among you.

⁷Therefore you do not lack any spiritual gift as you eagerly wait for our Lord Jesus Christ to be revealed.

⁸He will also keep you firm to the end, so that you will be blameless on the day of our Lord Jesus Christ.

⁹God is faithful, who has called you into fellowship with his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.

¹⁰I appeal to you, brothers and sisters, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree with one another in what you say and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be perfectly united in mind and thought.

¹¹My brothers and sisters, some from Chloe’s household have informed me that there are quarrels among you.

¹²What I mean is this: One of you says, “I follow Paul”; another, “I follow Apollos”; another, “I follow Cephas”; still another, “I follow Christ.”

¹³Is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Were you baptized in the name of Paul?

¹⁴I thank God that I did not baptize any of you except Crispus and Gaius,

¹⁵so no one can say that you were baptized in my name.

¹⁶(Yes, I also baptized the household of Stephanas; beyond that, I don’t remember if I baptized anyone else.)

¹⁷For Christ did not send me to baptize, but to preach the gospel—not with wisdom and eloquence, lest the cross of Christ be emptied of its power.

¹⁸For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.

¹⁹For it is written: “I will destroy the wisdom of the wise; the intelligence of the intelligent I will frustrate.”

²⁰Where is the wise person? Where is the teacher of the law? Where is the philosopher of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world?

²¹For since in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom did not know him, God was pleased through the foolishness of what was preached to save those who believe.

²²Jews demand signs and Greeks look for wisdom,

²³but we preach Christ crucified: a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles,

²⁴but to those whom God has called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God.

²⁵For the foolishness of God is wiser than human wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than human strength.

²⁶Brothers and sisters, think of what you were when you were called. Not many of you were wise by human standards; not many were influential; not many were of noble birth.

²⁷But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong.

²⁸God chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things—and the things that are not—to nullify the things that are,

²⁹so that no one may boast before him.

³⁰It is because of him that you are in Christ Jesus, who has become for us wisdom from God—that is, our righteousness, holiness and redemption.

³¹Therefore, as it is written: “Let the one who boasts boast in the Lord.”

¹The dragon stood on the shore of the sea. And I saw a beast coming out of the sea. It had ten horns and seven heads, with ten crowns on its horns, and on each head a blasphemous name.

²The beast I saw resembled a leopard, but had feet like those of a bear and a mouth like that of a lion. The dragon gave the beast his power and his throne and great authority.

³One of the heads of the beast seemed to have had a fatal wound, but the fatal wound had been healed. The whole world was filled with wonder and followed the beast.

⁴People worshiped the dragon because he had given authority to the beast, and they also worshiped the beast and asked, “Who is like the beast? Who can wage war against it?”

⁵The beast was given a mouth to utter proud words and blasphemies and to exercise its authority for forty-two months.

⁶It opened its mouth to blaspheme God, and to slander his name and his dwelling place and those who live in heaven.

⁷It was given power to wage war against God’s holy people and to conquer them. And it was given authority over every tribe, people, language and nation.

⁸All inhabitants of the earth will worship the beast—all whose names have not been written in the Lamb’s book of life, the Lamb who was slain from the creation of the world.

⁹Whoever has ears, let them hear.

¹⁰“If anyone is to go into captivity, into captivity they will go. If anyone is to be killed with the sword, with the sword they will be killed.” This calls for patient endurance and faithfulness on the part of God’s people.

¹¹Then I saw a second beast, coming out of the earth. It had two horns like a lamb, but it spoke like a dragon.

¹²It exercised all the authority of the first beast on its behalf, and made the earth and its inhabitants worship the first beast, whose fatal wound had been healed.

¹³And it performed great signs, even causing fire to come down from heaven to the earth in full view of the people.

¹⁴Because of the signs it was given power to perform on behalf of the first beast, it deceived the inhabitants of the earth. It ordered them to set up an image in honor of the beast who was wounded by the sword and yet lived.

¹⁵The second beast was given power to give breath to the image of the first beast, so that the image could speak and cause all who refused to worship the image to be killed.

¹⁶It also forced all people, great and small, rich and poor, free and slave, to receive a mark on their right hands or on their foreheads,

¹⁷so that they could not buy or sell unless they had the mark, which is the name of the beast or the number of its name.

¹⁸This calls for wisdom. Let the person who has insight calculate the number of the beast, for it is the number of a man. That number is 666.

¹After this, Job opened his mouth and cursed the day of his birth.

²He said:

³“May the day of my birth perish, and the night that said, ‘A boy is conceived!’

⁴That day—may it turn to darkness; may God above not care about it; may no light shine on it.

⁵May gloom and utter darkness claim it once more; may a cloud settle over it; may blackness overwhelm it.

⁶That night—may thick darkness seize it; may it not be included among the days of the year nor be entered in any of the months.

⁷May that night be barren; may no shout of joy be heard in it.

⁸May those who curse days curse that day, those who are ready to rouse Leviathan.

⁹May its morning stars become dark; may it wait for daylight in vain and not see the first rays of dawn,

¹⁰for it did not shut the doors of the womb on me to hide trouble from my eyes.

¹¹“Why did I not perish at birth, and die as I came from the womb?

¹²Why were there knees to receive me and breasts that I might be nursed?

¹³For now I would be lying down in peace; I would be asleep and at rest

¹⁴with kings and rulers of the earth, who built for themselves places now lying in ruins,

¹⁵with princes who had gold, who filled their houses with silver.

¹⁶Or why was I not hidden away in the ground like a stillborn child, like an infant who never saw the light of day?

¹⁷There the wicked cease from turmoil, and there the weary are at rest.

¹⁸Captives also enjoy their ease; they no longer hear the slave driver’s shout.

¹⁹The small and the great are there, and the slaves are freed from their owners.

²⁰“Why is light given to those in misery, and life to the bitter of soul,

²¹to those who long for death that does not come, who search for it more than for hidden treasure,

²²who are filled with gladness and rejoice when they reach the grave?

²³Why is life given to a man whose way is hidden, whom God has hedged in?

²⁴For sighing has become my daily food; my groans pour out like water.

²⁵What I feared has come upon me; what I dreaded has happened to me.

²⁶I have no peace, no quietness; I have no rest, but only turmoil.”

¹Of David. A psalm. I will sing of your love and justice; to you, LORD, I will sing praise.

²I will be careful to lead a blameless life— when will you come to me? I will conduct the affairs of my house with a blameless heart.

³I will not look with approval on anything that is vile. I hate what faithless people do; I will have no part in it.

⁴The perverse of heart shall be far from me; I will have nothing to do with what is evil.

⁵Whoever slanders their neighbor in secret, I will put to silence; whoever has haughty eyes and a proud heart, I will not tolerate.

⁶My eyes will be on the faithful in the land, that they may dwell with me; the one whose walk is blameless will minister to me.

⁷No one who practices deceit will dwell in my house; no one who speaks falsely will stand in my presence.

⁸Every morning I will put to silence all the wicked in the land; I will cut off every evildoer from the city of the LORD.

¹My son, do not forget my teaching, but keep my commands in your heart,

²for they will prolong your life many years and bring you peace and prosperity.

³Let love and faithfulness never leave you; bind them around your neck, write them on the tablet of your heart.

⁴Then you will win favor and a good name in the sight of God and man.

⁵Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding;

⁶in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight.

⁷Do not be wise in your own eyes; fear the LORD and shun evil.

⁸This will bring health to your body and nourishment to your bones.

⁹Honor the LORD with your wealth, with the firstfruits of all your crops;

¹⁰then your barns will be filled to overflowing, and your vats will brim over with new wine.

¹¹My son, do not despise the LORD’s discipline, and do not resent his rebuke,

¹²because the LORD disciplines those he loves, as a father the son he delights in.

¹³Blessed are those who find wisdom, those who gain understanding,

¹⁴for she is more profitable than silver and yields better returns than gold.

¹⁵She is more precious than rubies; nothing you desire can compare with her.

¹⁶Long life is in her right hand; in her left hand are riches and honor.

¹⁷Her ways are pleasant ways, and all her paths are peace.

¹⁸She is a tree of life to those who take hold of her; those who hold her fast will be blessed.

¹⁹By wisdom the LORD laid the earth’s foundations, by understanding he set the heavens in place;

²⁰by his knowledge the watery depths were divided, and the clouds let drop the dew.

²¹My son, do not let wisdom and understanding out of your sight, preserve sound judgment and discretion;

²²they will be life for you, an ornament to grace your neck.

²³Then you will go on your way in safety, and your foot will not stumble.

²⁴When you lie down, you will not be afraid; when you lie down, your sleep will be sweet.

²⁵Have no fear of sudden disaster or of the ruin that overtakes the wicked,

²⁶for the LORD will be at your side and will keep your foot from being snared.

²⁷Do not withhold good from those to whom it is due, when it is in your power to act.

²⁸Do not say to your neighbor, “Come back tomorrow and I’ll give it to you”— when you already have it with you.

²⁹Do not plot harm against your neighbor, who lives trustfully near you.

³⁰Do not accuse anyone for no reason— when they have done you no harm.

³¹Do not envy the violent or choose any of their ways.

³²For the LORD detests the perverse but takes the upright into his confidence.

³³The LORD’s curse is on the house of the wicked, but he blesses the home of the righteous.

³⁴He mocks proud mockers but shows favor to the humble and oppressed.

³⁵The wise inherit honor, but fools get only shame.

¹Then Joshua son of Nun secretly sent two spies from Shittim. “Go, look over the land,” he said, “especially Jericho.” So they went and entered the house of a prostitute named Rahab and stayed there.

²The king of Jericho was told, “Look, some of the Israelites have come here tonight to spy out the land.”

³So the king of Jericho sent this message to Rahab: “Bring out the men who came to you and entered your house, because they have come to spy out the whole land.”

⁴But the woman had taken the two men and hidden them. She said, “Yes, the men came to me, but I did not know where they had come from.

⁵At dusk, when it was time to close the city gate, they left. I don’t know which way they went. Go after them quickly. You may catch up with them.”

⁶(But she had taken them up to the roof and hidden them under the stalks of flax she had laid out on the roof.)

⁷So the men set out in pursuit of the spies on the road that leads to the fords of the Jordan, and as soon as the pursuers had gone out, the gate was shut.

⁸Before the spies lay down for the night, she went up on the roof

⁹and said to them, “I know that the LORD has given you this land and that a great fear of you has fallen on us, so that all who live in this country are melting in fear because of you.

¹⁰We have heard how the LORD dried up the water of the Red Sea for you when you came out of Egypt, and what you did to Sihon and Og, the two kings of the Amorites east of the Jordan, whom you completely destroyed.

¹¹When we heard of it, our hearts melted in fear and everyone’s courage failed because of you, for the LORD your God is God in heaven above and on the earth below.

¹²“Now then, please swear to me by the LORD that you will show kindness to my family, because I have shown kindness to you. Give me a sure sign

¹³that you will spare the lives of my father and mother, my brothers and sisters, and all who belong to them—and that you will save us from death.”

¹⁴“Our lives for your lives!” the men assured her. “If you don’t tell what we are doing, we will treat you kindly and faithfully when the LORD gives us the land.”

¹⁵So she let them down by a rope through the window, for the house she lived in was part of the city wall.

¹⁶She said to them, “Go to the hills so the pursuers will not find you. Hide yourselves there three days until they return, and then go on your way.”

¹⁷Now the men had said to her, “This oath you made us swear will not be binding on us

¹⁸unless, when we enter the land, you have tied this scarlet cord in the window through which you let us down, and unless you have brought your father and mother, your brothers and all your family into your house.

¹⁹If any of them go outside your house into the street, their blood will be on their own heads; we will not be responsible. As for those who are in the house with you, their blood will be on our head if a hand is laid on them.

²⁰But if you tell what we are doing, we will be released from the oath you made us swear.”

²¹“Agreed,” she replied. “Let it be as you say.” So she sent them away, and they departed. And she tied the scarlet cord in the window.

²²When they left, they went into the hills and stayed there three days, until the pursuers had searched all along the road and returned without finding them.

²³Then the two men started back. They went down out of the hills, forded the river and came to Joshua son of Nun and told him everything that had happened to them.

²⁴They said to Joshua, “The LORD has surely given the whole land into our hands; all the people are melting in fear because of us.”

¹The vision concerning Judah and Jerusalem that Isaiah son of Amoz saw during the reigns of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz and Hezekiah, kings of Judah.

²Hear me, you heavens! Listen, earth! For the LORD has spoken: “I reared children and brought them up, but they have rebelled against me.

³The ox knows its master, the donkey its owner’s manger, but Israel does not know, my people do not understand.”

⁴Woe to the sinful nation, a people whose guilt is great, a brood of evildoers, children given to corruption! They have forsaken the LORD; they have spurned the Holy One of Israel and turned their backs on him.

⁵Why should you be beaten anymore? Why do you persist in rebellion? Your whole head is injured, your whole heart afflicted.

⁶From the sole of your foot to the top of your head there is no soundness— only wounds and welts and open sores, not cleansed or bandaged or soothed with olive oil.

⁷Your country is desolate, your cities burned with fire; your fields are being stripped by foreigners right before you, laid waste as when overthrown by strangers.

⁸Daughter Zion is left like a shelter in a vineyard, like a hut in a cucumber field, like a city under siege.

⁹Unless the LORD Almighty had left us some survivors, we would have become like Sodom, we would have been like Gomorrah.

¹⁰Hear the word of the LORD, you rulers of Sodom; listen to the instruction of our God, you people of Gomorrah!

¹¹“The multitude of your sacrifices— what are they to me?” says the LORD. “I have more than enough of burnt offerings, of rams and the fat of fattened animals; I have no pleasure in the blood of bulls and lambs and goats.

¹²When you come to appear before me, who has asked this of you, this trampling of my courts?

¹³Stop bringing meaningless offerings! Your incense is detestable to me. New Moons, Sabbaths and convocations— I cannot bear your worthless assemblies.

¹⁴Your New Moon feasts and your appointed festivals I hate with all my being. They have become a burden to me; I am weary of bearing them.

¹⁵When you spread out your hands in prayer, I hide my eyes from you; even when you offer many prayers, I am not listening. Your hands are full of blood!

¹⁶Wash and make yourselves clean. Take your evil deeds out of my sight; stop doing wrong.

¹⁷Learn to do right; seek justice. Defend the oppressed. Take up the cause of the fatherless; plead the case of the widow.

¹⁸“Come now, let us settle the matter,” says the LORD. “Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red as crimson, they shall be like wool.

¹⁹If you are willing and obedient, you will eat the good things of the land;

²⁰but if you resist and rebel, you will be devoured by the sword.” For the mouth of the LORD has spoken.

²¹See how the faithful city has become a prostitute! She once was full of justice; righteousness used to dwell in her— but now murderers!

²²Your silver has become dross, your choice wine is diluted with water.

²³Your rulers are rebels, partners with thieves; they all love bribes and chase after gifts. They do not defend the cause of the fatherless; the widow’s case does not come before them.

²⁴Therefore the Lord, the LORD Almighty, the Mighty One of Israel, declares: “Ah! I will vent my wrath on my foes and avenge myself on my enemies.

²⁵I will turn my hand against you; I will thoroughly purge away your dross and remove all your impurities.

²⁶I will restore your leaders as in days of old, your rulers as at the beginning. Afterward you will be called the City of Righteousness, the Faithful City.”

²⁷Zion will be delivered with justice, her penitent ones with righteousness.

²⁸But rebels and sinners will both be broken, and those who forsake the LORD will perish.

²⁹“You will be ashamed because of the sacred oaks in which you have delighted; you will be disgraced because of the gardens that you have chosen.

³⁰You will be like an oak with fading leaves, like a garden without water.

³¹The mighty man will become tinder and his work a spark; both will burn together, with no one to quench the fire.”

¹When it was decided that we would sail for Italy, Paul and some other prisoners were handed over to a centurion named Julius, who belonged to the Imperial Regiment.

²We boarded a ship from Adramyttium about to sail for ports along the coast of the province of Asia, and we put out to sea. Aristarchus, a Macedonian from Thessalonica, was with us.

³The next day we landed at Sidon; and Julius, in kindness to Paul, allowed him to go to his friends so they might provide for his needs.

⁴From there we put out to sea again and passed to the lee of Cyprus because the winds were against us.

⁵When we had sailed across the open sea off the coast of Cilicia and Pamphylia, we landed at Myra in Lycia.

⁶There the centurion found an Alexandrian ship sailing for Italy and put us on board.

⁷We made slow headway for many days and had difficulty arriving off Cnidus. When the wind did not allow us to hold our course, we sailed to the lee of Crete, opposite Salmone.

⁸We moved along the coast with difficulty and came to a place called Fair Havens, near the town of Lasea.

⁹Much time had been lost, and sailing had already become dangerous because by now it was after the Day of Atonement. So Paul warned them,

¹⁰“Men, I can see that our voyage is going to be disastrous and bring great loss to ship and cargo, and to our own lives also.”

¹¹But the centurion, instead of listening to what Paul said, followed the advice of the pilot and of the owner of the ship.

¹²Since the harbor was unsuitable to winter in, the majority decided that we should sail on, hoping to reach Phoenix and winter there. This was a harbor in Crete, facing both southwest and northwest.

¹³When a gentle south wind began to blow, they saw their opportunity; so they weighed anchor and sailed along the shore of Crete.

¹⁴Before very long, a wind of hurricane force, called the Northeaster, swept down from the island.

¹⁵The ship was caught by the storm and could not head into the wind; so we gave way to it and were driven along.

¹⁶As we passed to the lee of a small island called Cauda, we were hardly able to make the lifeboat secure,

¹⁷so the men hoisted it aboard. Then they passed ropes under the ship itself to hold it together. Because they were afraid they would run aground on the sandbars of Syrtis, they lowered the sea anchor and let the ship be driven along.

¹⁸We took such a violent battering from the storm that the next day they began to throw the cargo overboard.

¹⁹On the third day, they threw the ship’s tackle overboard with their own hands.

²⁰When neither sun nor stars appeared for many days and the storm continued raging, we finally gave up all hope of being saved.

²¹After they had gone a long time without food, Paul stood up before them and said: “Men, you should have taken my advice not to sail from Crete; then you would have spared yourselves this damage and loss.

²²But now I urge you to keep up your courage, because not one of you will be lost; only the ship will be destroyed.

²³Last night an angel of the God to whom I belong and whom I serve stood beside me

²⁴and said, ‘Do not be afraid, Paul. You must stand trial before Caesar; and God has graciously given you the lives of all who sail with you.’

²⁵So keep up your courage, men, for I have faith in God that it will happen just as he told me.

²⁶Nevertheless, we must run aground on some island.”

²⁷On the fourteenth night we were still being driven across the Adriatic Sea, when about midnight the sailors sensed they were approaching land.

²⁸They took soundings and found that the water was a hundred and twenty feet deep. A short time later they took soundings again and found it was ninety feet deep.

²⁹Fearing that we would be dashed against the rocks, they dropped four anchors from the stern and prayed for daylight.

³⁰In an attempt to escape from the ship, the sailors let the lifeboat down into the sea, pretending they were going to lower some anchors from the bow.

³¹Then Paul said to the centurion and the soldiers, “Unless these men stay with the ship, you cannot be saved.”

³²So the soldiers cut the ropes that held the lifeboat and let it drift away.

³³Just before dawn Paul urged them all to eat. “For the last fourteen days,” he said, “you have been in constant suspense and have gone without food—you haven’t eaten anything.

³⁴Now I urge you to take some food. You need it to survive. Not one of you will lose a single hair from his head.”

³⁵After he said this, he took some bread and gave thanks to God in front of them all. Then he broke it and began to eat.

³⁶They were all encouraged and ate some food themselves.

³⁷Altogether there were 276 of us on board.

³⁸When they had eaten as much as they wanted, they lightened the ship by throwing the grain into the sea.

³⁹When daylight came, they did not recognize the land, but they saw a bay with a sandy beach, where they decided to run the ship aground if they could.

⁴⁰Cutting loose the anchors, they left them in the sea and at the same time untied the ropes that held the rudders. Then they hoisted the foresail to the wind and made for the beach.

⁴¹But the ship struck a sandbar and ran aground. The bow stuck fast and would not move, and the stern was broken to pieces by the pounding of the surf.

⁴²The soldiers planned to kill the prisoners to prevent any of them from swimming away and escaping.

⁴³But the centurion wanted to spare Paul’s life and kept them from carrying out their plan. He ordered those who could swim to jump overboard first and get to land.

⁴⁴The rest were to get there on planks or on other pieces of the ship. In this way everyone reached land safely.