Professor Horner’s Reading Plan

¹After this, Jesus crossed the Sea of Galilee (or Tiberias ).

²A huge crowd was following him because they saw the signs that he was performing by healing the sick.

³Jesus went up a mountain and sat down there with his disciples.

⁴Now the Passover, a Jewish festival, was near.

⁵So when Jesus looked up and noticed a huge crowd coming toward him, he asked Philip, “Where will we buy bread so that these people can eat?”

⁶He asked this to test him, for he himself knew what he was going to do.

⁷Philip answered him, “Two hundred denarii worth of bread wouldn’t be enough for each of them to have a little.”

⁸One of his disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, said to him,

⁹“There’s a boy here who has five barley loaves and two fish — but what are they for so many?”

¹⁰Jesus said, “Have the people sit down.” There was plenty of grass in that place; so they sat down. The men numbered about five thousand.

¹¹Then Jesus took the loaves, and after giving thanks he distributed them to those who were seated — so also with the fish, as much as they wanted.

¹²When they were full, he told his disciples, “Collect the leftovers so that nothing is wasted.”

¹³So they collected them and filled twelve baskets with the pieces from the five barley loaves that were left over by those who had eaten.

¹⁴When the people saw the sign he had done, they said, “This truly is the Prophet who is to come into the world.”

¹⁵Therefore, when Jesus realized that they were about to come and take him by force to make him king, he withdrew again to the mountain by himself.

¹⁶When evening came, his disciples went down to the sea,

¹⁷got into a boat, and started across the sea to Capernaum. Darkness had already set in, but Jesus had not yet come to them.

¹⁸A high wind arose, and the sea began to churn.

¹⁹After they had rowed about three or four miles, they saw Jesus walking on the sea. He was coming near the boat, and they were afraid.

²⁰But he said to them, “It is I. Don’t be afraid.”

²¹Then they were willing to take him on board, and at once the boat was at the shore where they were heading.

²²The next day, the crowd that had stayed on the other side of the sea saw there had been only one boat. They also saw that Jesus had not boarded the boat with his disciples, but that his disciples had gone off alone.

²³Some boats from Tiberias came near the place where they had eaten the bread after the Lord had given thanks.

²⁴When the crowd saw that neither Jesus nor his disciples were there, they got into the boats and went to Capernaum looking for Jesus.

²⁵When they found him on the other side of the sea, they said to him, “Rabbi, when did you get here?”

²⁶Jesus answered, “Truly I tell you, you are looking for me, not because you saw the signs, but because you ate the loaves and were filled.

²⁷Don’t work for the food that perishes but for the food that lasts for eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you, because God the Father has set his seal of approval on him.”

²⁸“What can we do to perform the works of God?” they asked.

²⁹Jesus replied, “This is the work of God — that you believe in the one he has sent.”

³⁰“What sign, then, are you going to do so we may see and believe you?” they asked. “What are you going to perform?

³¹Our ancestors ate the manna in the wilderness, just as it is written: He gave them bread from heaven to eat.”

³²Jesus said to them, “Truly I tell you, Moses didn’t give you the bread from heaven, but my Father gives you the true bread from heaven.

³³For the bread of God is the one who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.”

³⁴Then they said, “Sir, give us this bread always.”

³⁵“I am the bread of life,” Jesus told them. “No one who comes to me will ever be hungry, and no one who believes in me will ever be thirsty again.

³⁶But as I told you, you’ve seen me, and yet you do not believe.

³⁷Everyone the Father gives me will come to me, and the one who comes to me I will never cast out.

³⁸For I have come down from heaven, not to do my own will, but the will of him who sent me.

³⁹This is the will of him who sent me: that I should lose none of those he has given me but should raise them up on the last day.

⁴⁰For this is the will of my Father: that everyone who sees the Son and believes in him will have eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day.”

⁴¹Therefore the Jews started complaining about him because he said, “I am the bread that came down from heaven.”

⁴²They were saying, “Isn’t this Jesus the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How can he now say, ‘I have come down from heaven’?”

⁴³Jesus answered them, “Stop complaining among yourselves.

⁴⁴No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him, and I will raise him up on the last day.

⁴⁵It is written in the Prophets: And they will all be taught by God. Everyone who has listened to and learned from the Father comes to me — 

⁴⁶not that anyone has seen the Father except the one who is from God. He has seen the Father.

⁴⁷“Truly I tell you, anyone who believes has eternal life.

⁴⁸I am the bread of life.

⁴⁹Your ancestors ate the manna in the wilderness, and they died.

⁵⁰This is the bread that comes down from heaven so that anyone may eat of it and not die.

⁵¹I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread he will live forever. The bread that I will give for the life of the world is my flesh.”

⁵²At that, the Jews argued among themselves, “How can this man give us his flesh to eat?”

⁵³So Jesus said to them, “Truly I tell you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you do not have life in yourselves.

⁵⁴The one who eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day,

⁵⁵because my flesh is true food and my blood is true drink.

⁵⁶The one who eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me, and I in him.

⁵⁷Just as the living Father sent me and I live because of the Father, so the one who feeds on me will live because of me.

⁵⁸This is the bread that came down from heaven; it is not like the manna your ancestors ate — and they died. The one who eats this bread will live forever.”

⁵⁹He said these things while teaching in the synagogue in Capernaum.

⁶⁰Therefore, when many of his disciples heard this, they said, “This teaching is hard. Who can accept it?”

⁶¹Jesus, knowing in himself that his disciples were complaining about this, asked them, “Does this offend you?

⁶²Then what if you were to observe the Son of Man ascending to where he was before?

⁶³The Spirit is the one who gives life. The flesh doesn’t help at all. The words that I have spoken to you are spirit and are life.

⁶⁴But there are some among you who don’t believe.” (For Jesus knew from the beginning those who did not believe and the one who would betray him.)

⁶⁵He said, “This is why I told you that no one can come to me unless it is granted to him by the Father.”

⁶⁶From that moment many of his disciples turned back and no longer accompanied him.

⁶⁷So Jesus said to the Twelve, “You don’t want to go away too, do you?”

⁶⁸Simon Peter answered, “Lord, to whom will we go? You have the words of eternal life.

⁶⁹We have come to believe and know that you are the Holy One of God.”

⁷⁰Jesus replied to them, “Didn’t I choose you, the Twelve? Yet one of you is a devil.”

⁷¹He was referring to Judas, Simon Iscariot’s son, one of the Twelve, because he was going to betray him.

¹Then Moses and the Israelites sang this song to the LORD. They said: I will sing to the LORD, for he is highly exalted; he has thrown the horse and its rider into the sea.

²The LORD is my strength and my song; he has become my salvation. This is my God, and I will praise him, my father’s God, and I will exalt him.

³The LORD is a warrior; the LORD is his name.

⁴He threw Pharaoh’s chariots and his army into the sea; the elite of his officers were drowned in the Red Sea.

⁵The floods covered them; they sank to the depths like a stone.

⁶LORD, your right hand is glorious in power. LORD, your right hand shattered the enemy.

⁷You overthrew your adversaries by your great majesty. You unleashed your burning wrath; it consumed them like stubble.

⁸The water heaped up at the blast from your nostrils; the currents stood firm like a dam. The watery depths congealed in the heart of the sea.

⁹The enemy said: “I will pursue, I will overtake, I will divide the spoil. My desire will be gratified at their expense. I will draw my sword; my hand will destroy them.”

¹⁰But you blew with your breath, and the sea covered them. They sank like lead in the mighty waters.

¹¹LORD, who is like you among the gods? Who is like you, glorious in holiness, revered with praises, performing wonders?

¹²You stretched out your right hand, and the earth swallowed them.

¹³With your faithful love, you will lead the people you have redeemed; you will guide them to your holy dwelling with your strength.

¹⁴When the peoples hear, they will shudder; anguish will seize the inhabitants of Philistia.

¹⁵Then the chiefs of Edom will be terrified; trembling will seize the leaders of Moab; all the inhabitants of Canaan will panic;

¹⁶terror and dread will fall on them. They will be as still as a stone because of your powerful arm until your people pass by, LORD, until the people whom you purchased pass by.

¹⁷You will bring them in and plant them on the mountain of your possession; LORD, you have prepared the place for your dwelling; Lord, your hands have established the sanctuary.

¹⁸The LORD will reign forever and ever!

¹⁹When Pharaoh’s horses with his chariots and horsemen went into the sea, the LORD brought the water of the sea back over them. But the Israelites walked through the sea on dry ground.

²⁰Then the prophetess Miriam, Aaron’s sister, took a tambourine in her hand, and all the women came out following her with tambourines and dancing.

²¹Miriam sang to them: Sing to the LORD, for he is highly exalted; he has thrown the horse and its rider into the sea.

²²Then Moses led Israel on from the Red Sea, and they went out to the Wilderness of Shur. They journeyed for three days in the wilderness without finding water.

²³They came to Marah, but they could not drink the water at Marah because it was bitter — that is why it was named Marah.

²⁴The people grumbled to Moses, “What are we going to drink?”

²⁵So he cried out to the LORD, and the LORD showed him a tree. When he threw it into the water, the water became drinkable. The LORD made a statute and ordinance for them at Marah, and he tested them there.

²⁶He said, “If you will carefully obey the LORD your God, do what is right in his sight, pay attention to his commands, and keep all his statutes, I will not inflict any illnesses on you that I inflicted on the Egyptians. For I am the LORD who heals you.”

²⁷Then they came to Elim, where there were twelve springs and seventy date palms, and they camped there by the water.

¹When I came to you, brothers and sisters, announcing the mystery of God to you, I did not come with brilliance of speech or wisdom.

²I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified.

³I came to you in weakness, in fear, and in much trembling.

⁴My speech and my preaching were not with persuasive words of wisdom but with a demonstration of the Spirit’s power,

⁵so that your faith might not be based on human wisdom but on God’s power.

⁶We do, however, speak a wisdom among the mature, but not a wisdom of this age, or of the rulers of this age, who are coming to nothing.

⁷On the contrary, we speak God’s hidden wisdom in a mystery, a wisdom God predestined before the ages for our glory.

⁸None of the rulers of this age knew this wisdom, because if they had known it, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.

⁹But as it is written, What no eye has seen, no ear has heard, and no human heart has conceived — God has prepared these things for those who love him.

¹⁰Now God has revealed these things to us by the Spirit, since the Spirit searches everything, even the depths of God.

¹¹For who knows a person’s thoughts except his spirit within him? In the same way, no one knows the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God.

¹²Now we have not received the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who comes from God, so that we may understand what has been freely given to us by God.

¹³We also speak these things, not in words taught by human wisdom, but in those taught by the Spirit, explaining spiritual things to spiritual people.

¹⁴But the person without the Spirit does not receive what comes from God’s Spirit, because it is foolishness to him; he is not able to understand it since it is evaluated spiritually.

¹⁵The spiritual person, however, can evaluate everything, and yet he himself cannot be evaluated by anyone.

¹⁶For who has known the Lord’s mind, that he may instruct him? But we have the mind of Christ.

¹Then I looked, and there was the Lamb, standing on Mount Zion, and with him were 144,000 who had his name and his Father’s name written on their foreheads.

²I heard a sound from heaven like the sound of cascading waters and like the rumbling of loud thunder. The sound I heard was like harpists playing on their harps.

³They sang a new song before the throne and before the four living creatures and the elders, but no one could learn the song except the 144,000 who had been redeemed from the earth.

⁴These are the ones who have not defiled themselves with women, since they remained virgins. These are the ones who follow the Lamb wherever he goes. They were redeemed from humanity as the firstfruits for God and the Lamb.

⁵No lie was found in their mouths; they are blameless.

⁶Then I saw another angel flying high overhead, with the eternal gospel to announce to the inhabitants of the earth — to every nation, tribe, language, and people.

⁷He spoke with a loud voice: “Fear God and give him glory, because the hour of his judgment has come. Worship the one who made heaven and earth, the sea and the springs of water.”

⁸And another, a second angel, followed, saying, “It has fallen, Babylon the Great has fallen. She made all the nations drink the wine of her sexual immorality, which brings wrath.”

⁹And another, a third angel, followed them and spoke with a loud voice: “If anyone worships the beast and its image and receives a mark on his forehead or on his hand,

¹⁰he will also drink the wine of God’s wrath, which is poured full strength into the cup of his anger. He will be tormented with fire and sulfur in the sight of the holy angels and in the sight of the Lamb,

¹¹and the smoke of their torment will go up forever and ever. There is no rest day or night for those who worship the beast and its image, or anyone who receives the mark of its name.

¹²This calls for endurance from the saints, who keep God’s commands and their faith in Jesus.”

¹³Then I heard a voice from heaven saying, “Write: Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on.” “Yes,” says the Spirit, “so they will rest from their labors, since their works follow them.”

¹⁴Then I looked, and there was a white cloud, and one like the Son of Man was seated on the cloud, with a golden crown on his head and a sharp sickle in his hand.

¹⁵Another angel came out of the temple, crying out in a loud voice to the one who was seated on the cloud, “Use your sickle and reap, for the time to reap has come, since the harvest of the earth is ripe.”

¹⁶So the one seated on the cloud swung his sickle over the earth, and the earth was harvested.

¹⁷Then another angel who also had a sharp sickle came out of the temple in heaven.

¹⁸Yet another angel, who had authority over fire, came from the altar, and he called with a loud voice to the one who had the sharp sickle, “Use your sharp sickle and gather the clusters of grapes from the vineyard of the earth, because its grapes have ripened.”

¹⁹So the angel swung his sickle at the earth and gathered the grapes from the vineyard of the earth, and he threw them into the great winepress of God’s wrath.

²⁰Then the press was trampled outside the city, and blood flowed out of the press up to the horses’ bridles for about 180 miles.

¹Then Eliphaz the Temanite replied:

²Should anyone try to speak with you when you are exhausted? Yet who can keep from speaking?

³Indeed, you have instructed many and have strengthened weak hands.

⁴Your words have steadied the one who was stumbling and braced the knees that were buckling.

⁵But now that this has happened to you, you have become exhausted. It strikes you, and you are dismayed.

⁶Isn’t your piety your confidence, and the integrity of your life your hope?

⁷Consider: Who has perished when he was innocent? Where have the honest been destroyed?

⁸In my experience, those who plow injustice and those who sow trouble reap the same.

⁹They perish at a single blast from God and come to an end by the breath of his nostrils.

¹⁰The lion may roar and the fierce lion growl, but the teeth of young lions are broken.

¹¹The strong lion dies if it catches no prey, and the cubs of the lioness are scattered.

¹²A word was brought to me in secret; my ears caught a whisper of it.

¹³Among unsettling thoughts from visions in the night, when deep sleep comes over men,

¹⁴fear and trembling came over me and made all my bones shake.

¹⁵I felt a draft on my face, and the hair on my body stood up.

¹⁶A figure stood there, but I could not recognize its appearance; a form loomed before my eyes. I heard a whispering voice:

¹⁷“Can a mortal be righteous before God? Can a man be more pure than his Maker?”

¹⁸If God puts no trust in his servants and he charges his angels with foolishness,

¹⁹how much more those who dwell in clay houses, whose foundation is in the dust, who are crushed like a moth!

²⁰They are smashed to pieces from dawn to dusk; they perish forever while no one notices.

²¹Are their tent cords not pulled up? They die without wisdom.

¹A prayer of a suffering person who is weak and pours out his lament before the LORD. [1] LORD, hear my prayer; let my cry for help come before you.

²Do not hide your face from me in my day of trouble. Listen closely to me; answer me quickly when I call.

³For my days vanish like smoke, and my bones burn like a furnace.

⁴My heart is suffering, withered like grass; I even forget to eat my food.

⁵Because of the sound of my groaning, my flesh sticks to my bones.

⁶I am like an eagle owl, like a little owl among the ruins.

⁷I stay awake; I am like a solitary bird on a roof.

⁸My enemies taunt me all day long; they ridicule and use my name as a curse.

⁹I eat ashes like bread and mingle my drinks with tears

¹⁰because of your indignation and wrath; for you have picked me up and thrown me aside.

¹¹My days are like a lengthening shadow, and I wither away like grass.

¹²But you, LORD, are enthroned forever; your fame endures to all generations.

¹³You will rise up and have compassion on Zion, for it is time to show favor to her — the appointed time has come.

¹⁴For your servants take delight in its stones and favor its dust.

¹⁵Then the nations will fear the name of the LORD, and all the kings of the earth your glory,

¹⁶for the LORD will rebuild Zion; he will appear in his glory.

¹⁷He will pay attention to the prayer of the destitute and will not despise their prayer.

¹⁸This will be written for a later generation, and a people who have not yet been created will praise the LORD:

¹⁹He looked down from his holy heights — the LORD gazed out from heaven to earth  —

²⁰to hear a prisoner’s groaning, to set free those condemned to die,

²¹so that they might declare the name of the LORD in Zion and his praise in Jerusalem,

²²when peoples and kingdoms are assembled to serve the LORD.

²³He has broken my strength in midcourse; he has shortened my days.

²⁴I say: “My God, do not take me in the middle of my life! Your years continue through all generations.

²⁵Long ago you established the earth, and the heavens are the work of your hands.

²⁶They will perish, but you will endure; all of them will wear out like clothing. You will change them like a garment, and they will pass away.

²⁷But you are the same, and your years will never end.

²⁸Your servants’ children will dwell securely, and their offspring will be established before you.”

¹Listen, sons, to a father’s discipline, and pay attention so that you may gain understanding,

²for I am giving you good instruction. Don’t abandon my teaching.

³When I was a son with my father, tender and precious to my mother,

⁴he taught me and said: “Your heart must hold on to my words. Keep my commands and live.

⁵Get wisdom, get understanding; don’t forget or turn away from the words from my mouth.

⁶Don’t abandon wisdom, and she will watch over you; love her, and she will guard you.

⁷Wisdom is supreme — so get wisdom. And whatever else you get, get understanding.

⁸Cherish her, and she will exalt you; if you embrace her, she will honor you.

⁹She will place a garland of favor on your head; she will give you a crown of beauty.”

¹⁰Listen, my son. Accept my words, and you will live many years.

¹¹I am teaching you the way of wisdom; I am guiding you on straight paths.

¹²When you walk, your steps will not be hindered; when you run, you will not stumble.

¹³Hold on to instruction; don’t let go. Guard it, for it is your life.

¹⁴Keep off the path of the wicked; don’t proceed on the way of evil ones.

¹⁵Avoid it; don’t travel on it. Turn away from it, and pass it by.

¹⁶For they can’t sleep unless they have done what is evil; they are robbed of sleep unless they make someone stumble.

¹⁷They eat the bread of wickedness and drink the wine of violence.

¹⁸The path of the righteous is like the light of dawn, shining brighter and brighter until midday.

¹⁹But the way of the wicked is like the darkest gloom; they don’t know what makes them stumble.

²⁰My son, pay attention to my words; listen closely to my sayings.

²¹Don’t lose sight of them; keep them within your heart.

²²For they are life to those who find them, and health to one’s whole body.

²³Guard your heart above all else, for it is the source of life.

²⁴Don’t let your mouth speak dishonestly, and don’t let your lips talk deviously.

²⁵Let your eyes look forward; fix your gaze straight ahead.

²⁶Carefully consider the path for your feet, and all your ways will be established.

²⁷Don’t turn to the right or to the left; keep your feet away from evil.

¹Joshua started early the next morning and left the Acacia Grove with all the Israelites. They went as far as the Jordan and stayed there before crossing.

²After three days the officers went through the camp

³and commanded the people: “When you see the ark of the covenant of the LORD your God carried by the Levitical priests, you are to break camp and follow it.

⁴But keep a distance of about a thousand yards between yourselves and the ark. Don’t go near it, so that you can see the way to go, for you haven’t traveled this way before.”

⁵Joshua told the people, “Consecrate yourselves, because the LORD will do wonders among you tomorrow.”

⁶Then he said to the priests, “Carry the ark of the covenant and go on ahead of the people.” So they carried the ark of the covenant and went ahead of them.

⁷The LORD spoke to Joshua: “Today I will begin to exalt you in the sight of all Israel, so they will know that I will be with you just as I was with Moses.

⁸Command the priests carrying the ark of the covenant: When you reach the edge of the water, stand in the Jordan.”

⁹Then Joshua told the Israelites, “Come closer and listen to the words of the LORD your God.”

¹⁰He said: “You will know that the living God is among you and that he will certainly dispossess before you the Canaanites, Hethites, Hivites, Perizzites, Girgashites, Amorites, and Jebusites

¹¹when the ark of the covenant of the Lord of the whole earth goes ahead of you into the Jordan.

¹²Now choose twelve men from the tribes of Israel, one man for each tribe.

¹³When the feet of the priests who carry the ark of the LORD, the Lord of the whole earth, come to rest in the Jordan’s water, its water will be cut off. The water flowing downstream will stand up in a mass.”

¹⁴When the people broke camp to cross the Jordan, the priests carried the ark of the covenant ahead of the people.

¹⁵Now the Jordan overflows its banks throughout the harvest season. But as soon as the priests carrying the ark reached the Jordan, their feet touched the water at its edge

¹⁶and the water flowing downstream stood still, rising up in a mass that extended as far as Adam, a city next to Zarethan. The water flowing downstream into the Sea of the Arabah  — the Dead Sea — was completely cut off, and the people crossed opposite Jericho.

¹⁷The priests carrying the ark of the LORD’s covenant stood firmly on dry ground in the middle of the Jordan, while all Israel crossed on dry ground until the entire nation had finished crossing the Jordan.

¹The vision that Isaiah son of Amoz saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem:

²In the last days the mountain of the LORD’s house will be established at the top of the mountains and will be raised above the hills. All nations will stream to it,

³and many peoples will come and say, “Come, let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, to the house of the God of Jacob. He will teach us about his ways so that we may walk in his paths.” For instruction will go out of Zion and the word of the LORD from Jerusalem.

⁴He will settle disputes among the nations and provide arbitration for many peoples. They will beat their swords into plows and their spears into pruning knives. Nation will not take up the sword against nation, and they will never again train for war.

⁵House of Jacob, come and let us walk in the LORD’s light.

⁶For you have abandoned your people, the house of Jacob, because they are full of divination from the East and of fortune-tellers like the Philistines. They are in league with foreigners.

⁷Their land is full of silver and gold, and there is no limit to their treasures; their land is full of horses, and there is no limit to their chariots.

⁸Their land is full of idols; they worship the work of their hands, what their fingers have made.

⁹So humanity is brought low, and each person is humbled. Do not forgive them!

¹⁰Go into the rocks and hide in the dust from the terror of the LORD and from his majestic splendor.

¹¹The pride of mankind will be humbled, and human loftiness will be brought low; the LORD alone will be exalted on that day.

¹²For a day belonging to the LORD of Armies is coming against all that is proud and lofty, against all that is lifted up — it will be humbled —

¹³against all the cedars of Lebanon, lofty and lifted up, against all the oaks of Bashan,

¹⁴against all the high mountains, against all the lofty hills,

¹⁵against every high tower, against every fortified wall,

¹⁶against every ship of Tarshish, and against every splendid sea vessel.

¹⁷The pride of mankind will be brought low, and human loftiness will be humbled; the LORD alone will be exalted on that day.

¹⁸The idols will vanish completely.

¹⁹People will go into caves in the rocks and holes in the ground, away from the terror of the LORD and from his majestic splendor, when he rises to terrify the earth.

²⁰On that day people will throw their silver and gold idols, which they made to worship, to the moles and the bats.

²¹They will go into the caves of the rocks and the crevices in the cliffs, away from the terror of the LORD and from his majestic splendor, when he rises to terrify the earth.

²²Put no more trust in a mere human, who has only the breath in his nostrils. What is he really worth?

¹Once safely ashore, we then learned that the island was called Malta.

²The local people showed us extraordinary kindness. They lit a fire and took us all in, since it was raining and cold.

³As Paul gathered a bundle of brushwood and put it on the fire, a viper came out because of the heat and fastened itself on his hand.

⁴When the local people saw the snake hanging from his hand, they said to one another, “This man, no doubt, is a murderer. Even though he has escaped the sea, Justice has not allowed him to live.”

⁵But he shook the snake off into the fire and suffered no harm.

⁶They expected that he would begin to swell up or suddenly drop dead. After they waited a long time and saw nothing unusual happen to him, they changed their minds and said he was a god.

⁷Now in the area around that place was an estate belonging to the leading man of the island, named Publius, who welcomed us and entertained us hospitably for three days.

⁸Publius’s father was in bed suffering from fever and dysentery. Paul went to him, and praying and laying his hands on him, he healed him.

⁹After this, the rest of those on the island who had diseases also came and were healed.

¹⁰So they heaped many honors on us, and when we sailed, they gave us what we needed.

¹¹After three months we set sail in an Alexandrian ship that had wintered at the island, with the Twin Gods as its figurehead.

¹²Putting in at Syracuse, we stayed three days.

¹³From there, after making a circuit along the coast, we reached Rhegium. After one day a south wind sprang up, and the second day we came to Puteoli.

¹⁴There we found brothers and sisters and were invited to stay a week with them. And so we came to Rome.

¹⁵Now the brothers and sisters from there had heard the news about us and had come to meet us as far as the Forum of Appius and the Three Taverns. When Paul saw them, he thanked God and took courage.

¹⁶When we entered Rome, Paul was allowed to live by himself with the soldier who guarded him.

¹⁷After three days he called together the leaders of the Jews. When they had gathered he said to them: “Brothers, although I have done nothing against our people or the customs of our ancestors, I was delivered as a prisoner from Jerusalem into the hands of the Romans.

¹⁸After they examined me, they wanted to release me, since there was no reason for the death penalty in my case.

¹⁹Because the Jews objected, I was compelled to appeal to Caesar; even though I had no charge to bring against my people.

²⁰For this reason I’ve asked to see you and speak to you. In fact, it is for the hope of Israel that I’m wearing this chain.”

²¹Then they said to him, “We haven’t received any letters about you from Judea. None of the brothers has come and reported or spoken anything evil about you.

²²But we want to hear what your views are, since we know that people everywhere are speaking against this sect.”

²³After arranging a day with him, many came to him at his lodging. From dawn to dusk he expounded and testified about the kingdom of God. He tried to persuade them about Jesus from both the Law of Moses and the Prophets.

²⁴Some were persuaded by what he said, but others did not believe.

²⁵Disagreeing among themselves, they began to leave after Paul made one statement: “The Holy Spirit was right in saying to your ancestors through the prophet Isaiah

²⁶when he said, Go to these people and say: You will always be listening, but never understanding; and you will always be looking, but never perceiving.

²⁷For the hearts of these people have grown callous, their ears are hard of hearing, and they have shut their eyes; otherwise they might see with their eyes and hear with their ears, understand with their heart and turn, and I would heal them.

²⁸Therefore, let it be known to you that this salvation of God has been sent to the Gentiles; they will listen.”

²⁹

³⁰Paul stayed two whole years in his own rented house. And he welcomed all who visited him,

³¹proclaiming the kingdom of God and teaching about the Lord Jesus Christ with all boldness and without hindrance.