Professor Horner’s Reading Plan

¹After these things Jesus went over the Sea of Galilee, which is the Sea of Tiberias.

²Then a great multitude followed Him, because they saw His signs which He performed on those who were diseased.

³And Jesus went up on the mountain, and there He sat with His disciples.

⁴Now the Passover, a feast of the Jews, was near.

⁵Then Jesus lifted up His eyes, and seeing a great multitude coming toward Him, He said to Philip, “Where shall we buy bread, that these may eat?”

⁶But this He said to test him, for He Himself knew what He would do.

⁷Philip answered Him, “Two hundred denarii worth of bread is not sufficient for them, that every one of them may have a little.”

⁸One of His disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, said to Him,

⁹“There is a lad here who has five barley loaves and two small fish, but what are they among so many?”

¹⁰Then Jesus said, “Make the people sit down.” Now there was much grass in the place. So the men sat down, in number about five thousand.

¹¹And Jesus took the loaves, and when He had given thanks He distributed them to the disciples, and the disciples to those sitting down; and likewise of the fish, as much as they wanted.

¹²So when they were filled, He said to His disciples, “Gather up the fragments that remain, so that nothing is lost.”

¹³Therefore they gathered them up, and filled twelve baskets with the fragments of the five barley loaves which were left over by those who had eaten.

¹⁴Then those men, when they had seen the sign that Jesus did, said, “This is truly the Prophet who is to come into the world.”

¹⁵Therefore when Jesus perceived that they were about to come and take Him by force to make Him king, He departed again to the mountain by Himself alone.

¹⁶Now when evening came, His disciples went down to the sea,

¹⁷got into the boat, and went over the sea toward Capernaum. And it was already dark, and Jesus had not come to them.

¹⁸Then the sea arose because a great wind was blowing.

¹⁹So when they had rowed about three or four miles, they saw Jesus walking on the sea and drawing near the boat; and they were afraid.

²⁰But He said to them, “It is I; do not be afraid.”

²¹Then they willingly received Him into the boat, and immediately the boat was at the land where they were going.

²²On the following day, when the people who were standing on the other side of the sea saw that there was no other boat there, except that one which His disciples had entered, and that Jesus had not entered the boat with His disciples, but His disciples had gone away alone—

²³however, other boats came from Tiberias, near the place where they ate bread after the Lord had given thanks—

²⁴when the people therefore saw that Jesus was not there, nor His disciples, they also got into boats and came to Capernaum, seeking Jesus.

²⁵And when they found Him on the other side of the sea, they said to Him, “Rabbi, when did You come here?”

²⁶Jesus answered them and said, “Most assuredly, I say to you, you seek Me, not because you saw the signs, but because you ate of the loaves and were filled.

²⁷Do not labor for the food which perishes, but for the food which endures to everlasting life, which the Son of Man will give you, because God the Father has set His seal on Him.”

²⁸Then they said to Him, “What shall we do, that we may work the works of God?”

²⁹Jesus answered and said to them, “This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He sent.”

³⁰Therefore they said to Him, “What sign will You perform then, that we may see it and believe You? What work will You do?

³¹Our fathers ate the manna in the desert; as it is written, ‘He gave them bread from heaven to eat.’ ”

³²Then Jesus said to them, “Most assuredly, I say to you, Moses did not give you the bread from heaven, but My Father gives you the true bread from heaven.

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

³⁴Then they said to Him, “Lord, give us this bread always.”

³⁵And Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life. He who comes to Me shall never hunger, and he who believes in Me shall never thirst.

³⁶But I said to you that you have seen Me and yet do not believe.

³⁷All that the Father gives Me will come to Me, and the one who comes to Me I will by no means 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 the Father who sent Me, that of all He has given Me I should lose nothing, but should raise it up at the last day.

⁴⁰And this is the will of Him who sent Me, that everyone who sees the Son and believes in Him may have everlasting life; and I will raise him up at the last day.”

⁴¹The Jews then complained about Him, because He said, “I am the bread which came down from heaven.”

⁴²And they said, “Is not this Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How is it then that He says, ‘I have come down from heaven’?”

⁴³Jesus therefore answered and said to them, “Do not murmur among yourselves.

⁴⁴No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him; and I will raise him up at the last day.

⁴⁵It is written in the prophets, ‘And they shall all be taught by God.’ Therefore everyone who has heard and learned from the Father comes to Me.

⁴⁶Not that anyone has seen the Father, except He who is from God; He has seen the Father.

⁴⁷Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in Me has everlasting life.

⁴⁸I am the bread of life.

⁴⁹Your fathers ate the manna in the wilderness, and are dead.

⁵⁰This is the bread which comes down from heaven, that one may eat of it and not die.

⁵¹I am the living bread which came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever; and the bread that I shall give is My flesh, which I shall give for the life of the world.”

⁵²The Jews therefore quarreled among themselves, saying, “How can this Man give us His flesh to eat?”

⁵³Then Jesus said to them, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood, you have no life in you.

⁵⁴Whoever eats My flesh and drinks My blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day.

⁵⁵For My flesh is food indeed, and My blood is drink indeed.

⁵⁶He who eats My flesh and drinks My blood abides in Me, and I in him.

⁵⁷As the living Father sent Me, and I live because of the Father, so he who feeds on Me will live because of Me.

⁵⁸This is the bread which came down from heaven—not as your fathers ate the manna, and are dead. He who eats this bread will live forever.”

⁵⁹These things He said in the synagogue as He taught in Capernaum.

⁶⁰Therefore many of His disciples, when they heard this, said, “This is a hard saying; who can understand it?”

⁶¹When Jesus knew in Himself that His disciples complained about this, He said to them, “Does this offend you?

⁶²What then if you should see the Son of Man ascend where He was before?

⁶³It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing. The words that I speak to you are spirit, and they are life.

⁶⁴But there are some of you who do not believe.” For Jesus knew from the beginning who they were who did not believe, and who would betray Him.

⁶⁵And He said, “Therefore I have said to you that no one can come to Me unless it has been granted to him by My Father.”

⁶⁶From that time many of His disciples went back and walked with Him no more.

⁶⁷Then Jesus said to the twelve, “Do you also want to go away?”

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

⁶⁹Also we have come to believe and know that You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.”

⁷⁰Jesus answered them, “Did I not choose you, the twelve, and one of you is a devil?”

⁷¹He spoke of Judas Iscariot, the son of Simon, for it was he who would betray Him, being one of the twelve.

¹Then Moses and the children of Israel sang this song to the LORD, and spoke, saying: “I will sing to the LORD, For He has triumphed gloriously! The horse and its rider He has thrown into the sea!

²The LORD is my strength and song, And He has become my salvation; He is my God, and I will praise Him; My father’s God, and I will exalt Him.

³The LORD is a man of war; The LORD is His name.

⁴Pharaoh’s chariots and his army He has cast into the sea; His chosen captains also are drowned in the Red Sea.

⁵The depths have covered them; They sank to the bottom like a stone.

⁶“Your right hand, O LORD, has become glorious in power; Your right hand, O LORD, has dashed the enemy in pieces.

⁷And in the greatness of Your excellence You have overthrown those who rose against You; You sent forth Your wrath; It consumed them like stubble.

⁸And with the blast of Your nostrils The waters were gathered together; The floods stood upright like a heap; The depths congealed in the heart of the sea.

⁹The enemy said, ‘I will pursue, I will overtake, I will divide the spoil; My desire shall be satisfied on them. I will draw my sword, My hand shall destroy them.’

¹⁰You blew with Your wind, The sea covered them; They sank like lead in the mighty waters.

¹¹“Who is like You, O LORD, among the gods? Who is like You, glorious in holiness, Fearful in praises, doing wonders?

¹²You stretched out Your right hand; The earth swallowed them.

¹³You in Your mercy have led forth The people whom You have redeemed; You have guided them in Your strength To Your holy habitation.

¹⁴“The people will hear and be afraid; Sorrow will take hold of the inhabitants of Philistia.

¹⁵Then the chiefs of Edom will be dismayed; The mighty men of Moab, Trembling will take hold of them; All the inhabitants of Canaan will melt away.

¹⁶Fear and dread will fall on them; By the greatness of Your arm They will be as still as a stone, Till Your people pass over, O LORD, Till the people pass over Whom You have purchased.

¹⁷You will bring them in and plant them In the mountain of Your inheritance, In the place, O LORD, which You have made For Your own dwelling, The sanctuary, O Lord, which Your hands have established.

¹⁸“The LORD shall reign forever and ever.”

¹⁹For the horses of Pharaoh went with his chariots and his horsemen into the sea, and the LORD brought back the waters of the sea upon them. But the children of Israel went on dry land in the midst of the sea.

²⁰Then Miriam the prophetess, the sister of Aaron, took the timbrel in her hand; and all the women went out after her with timbrels and with dances.

²¹And Miriam answered them: “Sing to the LORD, For He has triumphed gloriously! The horse and its rider He has thrown into the sea!”

²²So Moses brought Israel from the Red Sea; then they went out into the Wilderness of Shur. And they went three days in the wilderness and found no water.

²³Now when they came to Marah, they could not drink the waters of Marah, for they were bitter. Therefore the name of it was called Marah.

²⁴And the people complained against Moses, saying, “What shall we drink?”

²⁵So he cried out to the LORD, and the LORD showed him a tree. When he cast it into the waters, the waters were made sweet. There He made a statute and an ordinance for them, and there He tested them,

²⁶and said, “If you diligently heed the voice of the LORD your God and do what is right in His sight, give ear to His commandments and keep all His statutes, I will put none of the diseases on you which I have brought on the Egyptians. For I am the LORD who heals you.”

²⁷Then they came to Elim, where there were twelve wells of water and seventy palm trees; so they camped there by the waters.

¹And I, brethren, when I came to you, did not come with excellence of speech or of wisdom declaring to you the testimony of God.

²For I determined not to know anything among you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified.

³I was with you in weakness, in fear, and in much trembling.

⁴And my speech and my preaching were not with persuasive words of human wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power,

⁵that your faith should not be in the wisdom of men but in the power of God.

⁶However, we speak wisdom among those who are mature, yet not the wisdom of this age, nor of the rulers of this age, who are coming to nothing.

⁷But we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, the hidden wisdom which God ordained before the ages for our glory,

⁸which none of the rulers of this age knew; for had they known, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.

⁹But as it is written: “Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, Nor have entered into the heart of man The things which God has prepared for those who love Him.”

¹⁰But God has revealed them to us through His Spirit. For the Spirit searches all things, yes, the deep things of God.

¹¹For what man knows the things of a man except the spirit of the man which is in him? Even so no one knows the things of God except the Spirit of God.

¹²Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might know the things that have been freely given to us by God.

¹³These things we also speak, not in words which man’s wisdom teaches but which the Holy Spirit teaches, comparing spiritual things with spiritual.

¹⁴But the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; nor can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.

¹⁵But he who is spiritual judges all things, yet he himself is rightly judged by no one.

¹⁶For “who has known the mind of the LORD that he may instruct Him?” But we have the mind of Christ.

¹Then I looked, and behold, a Lamb standing on Mount Zion, and with Him one hundred and forty-four thousand, having His Father’s name written on their foreheads.

²And I heard a voice from heaven, like the voice of many waters, and like the voice of loud thunder. And I heard the sound of harpists playing their harps.

³They sang as it were a new song before the throne, before the four living creatures, and the elders; and no one could learn that song except the hundred and forty-four thousand who were redeemed from the earth.

⁴These are the ones who were not defiled with women, for they are virgins. These are the ones who follow the Lamb wherever He goes. These were redeemed from among men, being firstfruits to God and to the Lamb.

⁵And in their mouth was found no deceit, for they are without fault before the throne of God.

⁶Then I saw another angel flying in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting gospel to preach to those who dwell on the earth— to every nation, tribe, tongue, and people—

⁷saying with a loud voice, “Fear God and give glory to Him, for the hour of His judgment has come; and worship Him who made heaven and earth, the sea and springs of water.”

⁸And another angel followed, saying, “Babylon is fallen, is fallen, that great city, because she has made all nations drink of the wine of the wrath of her fornication.”

⁹Then a third angel followed them, saying with a loud voice, “If anyone worships the beast and his image, and receives his mark on his forehead or on his hand,

¹⁰he himself shall also drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out full strength into the cup of His indignation. He shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels and in the presence of the Lamb.

¹¹And the smoke of their torment ascends forever and ever; and they have no rest day or night, who worship the beast and his image, and whoever receives the mark of his name.”

¹²Here is the patience of the saints; here are those who keep the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus.

¹³Then I heard a voice from heaven saying to me, “Write: ‘Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on.’ ” “Yes,” says the Spirit, “that they may rest from their labors, and their works follow them.”

¹⁴Then I looked, and behold, a white cloud, and on the cloud sat One like the Son of Man, having on His head a golden crown, and in His hand a sharp sickle.

¹⁵And another angel came out of the temple, crying with a loud voice to Him who sat on the cloud, “Thrust in Your sickle and reap, for the time has come for You to reap, for the harvest of the earth is ripe.”

¹⁶So He who sat on the cloud thrust in His sickle on the earth, and the earth was reaped.

¹⁷Then another angel came out of the temple which is in heaven, he also having a sharp sickle.

¹⁸And another angel came out from the altar, who had power over fire, and he cried with a loud cry to him who had the sharp sickle, saying, “Thrust in your sharp sickle and gather the clusters of the vine of the earth, for her grapes are fully ripe.”

¹⁹So the angel thrust his sickle into the earth and gathered the vine of the earth, and threw it into the great winepress of the wrath of God.

²⁰And the winepress was trampled outside the city, and blood came out of the winepress, up to the horses’ bridles, for one thousand six hundred furlongs.

¹Then Eliphaz the Temanite answered and said:

²“If one attempts a word with you, will you become weary? But who can withhold himself from speaking?

³Surely you have instructed many, And you have strengthened weak hands.

⁴Your words have upheld him who was stumbling, And you have strengthened the feeble knees;

⁵But now it comes upon you, and you are weary; It touches you, and you are troubled.

⁶Is not your reverence your confidence? And the integrity of your ways your hope?

⁷“Remember now, who ever perished being innocent? Or where were the upright ever cut off?

⁸Even as I have seen, Those who plow iniquity And sow trouble reap the same.

⁹By the blast of God they perish, And by the breath of His anger they are consumed.

¹⁰The roaring of the lion, The voice of the fierce lion, And the teeth of the young lions are broken.

¹¹The old lion perishes for lack of prey, And the cubs of the lioness are scattered.

¹²“Now a word was secretly brought to me, And my ear received a whisper of it.

¹³In disquieting thoughts from the visions of the night, When deep sleep falls on men,

¹⁴Fear came upon me, and trembling, Which made all my bones shake.

¹⁵Then a spirit passed before my face; The hair on my body stood up.

¹⁶It stood still, But I could not discern its appearance. A form was before my eyes; There was silence; Then I heard a voice saying:

¹⁷‘Can a mortal be more righteous than God? Can a man be more pure than his Maker?

¹⁸If He puts no trust in His servants, If He charges His angels with error,

¹⁹How much more those who dwell in houses of clay, Whose foundation is in the dust, Who are crushed before a moth?

²⁰They are broken in pieces from morning till evening; They perish forever, with no one regarding.

²¹Does not their own excellence go away? They die, even without wisdom.’

¹A Prayer of the afflicted, when he is overwhelmed and pours out his complaint before the LORD. [1] Hear my prayer, O LORD, And let my cry come to You.

²Do not hide Your face from me in the day of my trouble; Incline Your ear to me; In the day that I call, answer me speedily.

³For my days are consumed like smoke, And my bones are burned like a hearth.

⁴My heart is stricken and withered like grass, So that I forget to eat my bread.

⁵Because of the sound of my groaning My bones cling to my skin.

⁶I am like a pelican of the wilderness; I am like an owl of the desert.

⁷I lie awake, And am like a sparrow alone on the housetop.

⁸My enemies reproach me all day long; Those who deride me swear an oath against me.

⁹For I have eaten ashes like bread, And mingled my drink with weeping,

¹⁰Because of Your indignation and Your wrath; For You have lifted me up and cast me away.

¹¹My days are like a shadow that lengthens, And I wither away like grass.

¹²But You, O LORD, shall endure forever, And the remembrance of Your name to all generations.

¹³You will arise and have mercy on Zion; For the time to favor her, Yes, the set time, has come.

¹⁴For Your servants take pleasure in her stones, And show favor to her dust.

¹⁵So the nations shall fear the name of the LORD, And all the kings of the earth Your glory.

¹⁶For the LORD shall build up Zion; He shall appear in His glory.

¹⁷He shall regard the prayer of the destitute, And shall not despise their prayer.

¹⁸This will be written for the generation to come, That a people yet to be created may praise the LORD.

¹⁹For He looked down from the height of His sanctuary; From heaven the LORD viewed the earth,

²⁰To hear the groaning of the prisoner, To release those appointed to death,

²¹To declare the name of the LORD in Zion, And His praise in Jerusalem,

²²When the peoples are gathered together, And the kingdoms, to serve the LORD.

²³He weakened my strength in the way; He shortened my days.

²⁴I said, “O my God, Do not take me away in the midst of my days; Your years are throughout all generations.

²⁵Of old You laid the foundation of the earth, And the heavens are the work of Your hands.

²⁶They will perish, but You will endure; Yes, they will all grow old like a garment; Like a cloak You will change them, And they will be changed.

²⁷But You are the same, And Your years will have no end.

²⁸The children of Your servants will continue, And their descendants will be established before You.”

¹Hear, my children, the instruction of a father, And give attention to know understanding;

²For I give you good doctrine: Do not forsake my law.

³When I was my father’s son, Tender and the only one in the sight of my mother,

⁴He also taught me, and said to me: “Let your heart retain my words; Keep my commands, and live.

⁵Get wisdom! Get understanding! Do not forget, nor turn away from the words of my mouth.

⁶Do not forsake her, and she will preserve you; Love her, and she will keep you.

⁷Wisdom is the principal thing; Therefore get wisdom. And in all your getting, get understanding.

⁸Exalt her, and she will promote you; She will bring you honor, when you embrace her.

⁹She will place on your head an ornament of grace; A crown of glory she will deliver to you.”

¹⁰Hear, my son, and receive my sayings, And the years of your life will be many.

¹¹I have taught you in the way of wisdom; I have led you in right paths.

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

¹³Take firm hold of instruction, do not let go; Keep her, for she is your life.

¹⁴Do not enter the path of the wicked, And do not walk in the way of evil.

¹⁵Avoid it, do not travel on it; Turn away from it and pass on.

¹⁶For they do not sleep unless they have done evil; And their sleep is taken away unless they make someone fall.

¹⁷For they eat the bread of wickedness, And drink the wine of violence.

¹⁸But the path of the just is like the shining sun, That shines ever brighter unto the perfect day.

¹⁹The way of the wicked is like darkness; They do not know what makes them stumble.

²⁰My son, give attention to my words; Incline your ear to my sayings.

²¹Do not let them depart from your eyes; Keep them in the midst of your heart;

²²For they are life to those who find them, And health to all their flesh.

²³Keep your heart with all diligence, For out of it spring the issues of life.

²⁴Put away from you a deceitful mouth, And put perverse lips far from you.

²⁵Let your eyes look straight ahead, And your eyelids look right before you.

²⁶Ponder the path of your feet, And let all your ways be established.

²⁷Do not turn to the right or the left; Remove your foot from evil.

¹Then Joshua rose early in the morning; and they set out from Acacia Grove and came to the Jordan, he and all the children of Israel, and lodged there before they crossed over.

²So it was, after three days, that the officers went through the camp;

³and they commanded the people, saying, “When you see the ark of the covenant of the LORD your God, and the priests, the Levites, bearing it, then you shall set out from your place and go after it.

⁴Yet there shall be a space between you and it, about two thousand cubits by measure. Do not come near it, that you may know the way by which you must go, for you have not passed this way before.”

⁵And Joshua said to the people, “Sanctify yourselves, for tomorrow the LORD will do wonders among you.”

⁶Then Joshua spoke to the priests, saying, “Take up the ark of the covenant and cross over before the people.” So they took up the ark of the covenant and went before the people.

⁷And the LORD said to Joshua, “This day I will begin to exalt you in the sight of all Israel, that they may know that, as I was with Moses, so I will be with you.

⁸You shall command the priests who bear the ark of the covenant, saying, ‘When you have come to the edge of the water of the Jordan, you shall stand in the Jordan.’ ”

⁹So Joshua said to the children of Israel, “Come here, and hear the words of the LORD your God.”

¹⁰And Joshua said, “By this you shall know that the living God is among you, and that He will without fail drive out from before you the Canaanites and the Hittites and the Hivites and the Perizzites and the Girgashites and the Amorites and the Jebusites:

¹¹Behold, the ark of the covenant of the Lord of all the earth is crossing over before you into the Jordan.

¹²Now therefore, take for yourselves twelve men from the tribes of Israel, one man from every tribe.

¹³And it shall come to pass, as soon as the soles of the feet of the priests who bear the ark of the LORD, the Lord of all the earth, shall rest in the waters of the Jordan, that the waters of the Jordan shall be cut off, the waters that come down from upstream, and they shall stand as a heap.”

¹⁴So it was, when the people set out from their camp to cross over the Jordan, with the priests bearing the ark of the covenant before the people,

¹⁵and as those who bore the ark came to the Jordan, and the feet of the priests who bore the ark dipped in the edge of the water (for the Jordan overflows all its banks during the whole time of harvest),

¹⁶that the waters which came down from upstream stood still, and rose in a heap very far away at Adam, the city that is beside Zaretan. So the waters that went down into the Sea of the Arabah, the Salt Sea, failed, and were cut off; and the people crossed over opposite Jericho.

¹⁷Then the priests who bore the ark of the covenant of the LORD stood firm on dry ground in the midst of the Jordan; and all Israel crossed over on dry ground, until all the people had crossed completely over the Jordan.

¹The word that Isaiah the son of Amoz saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem.

²Now it shall come to pass in the latter days That the mountain of the LORD’s house Shall be established on the top of the mountains, And shall be exalted above the hills; And all nations shall flow to it.

³Many people shall come and say, “Come, and let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, To the house of the God of Jacob; He will teach us His ways, And we shall walk in His paths.” For out of Zion shall go forth the law, And the word of the LORD from Jerusalem.

⁴He shall judge between the nations, And rebuke many people; They shall beat their swords into plowshares, And their spears into pruning hooks; Nation shall not lift up sword against nation, Neither shall they learn war anymore.

⁵O house of Jacob, come and let us walk In the light of the LORD.

⁶For You have forsaken Your people, the house of Jacob, Because they are filled with eastern ways; They are soothsayers like the Philistines, And they are pleased with the children of foreigners.

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

⁸Their land is also full of idols; They worship the work of their own hands, That which their own fingers have made.

⁹People bow down, And each man humbles himself; Therefore do not forgive them.

¹⁰Enter into the rock, and hide in the dust, From the terror of the LORD And the glory of His majesty.

¹¹The lofty looks of man shall be humbled, The haughtiness of men shall be bowed down, And the LORD alone shall be exalted in that day.

¹²For the day of the LORD of hosts Shall come upon everything proud and lofty, Upon everything lifted up— And it shall be brought low—

¹³Upon all the cedars of Lebanon that are high and lifted up, And upon all the oaks of Bashan;

¹⁴Upon all the high mountains, And upon all the hills that are lifted up;

¹⁵Upon every high tower, And upon every fortified wall;

¹⁶Upon all the ships of Tarshish, And upon all the beautiful sloops.

¹⁷The loftiness of man shall be bowed down, And the haughtiness of men shall be brought low; The LORD alone will be exalted in that day,

¹⁸But the idols He shall utterly abolish.

¹⁹They shall go into the holes of the rocks, And into the caves of the earth, From the terror of the LORD And the glory of His majesty, When He arises to shake the earth mightily.

²⁰In that day a man will cast away his idols of silver And his idols of gold, Which they made, each for himself to worship, To the moles and bats,

²¹To go into the clefts of the rocks, And into the crags of the rugged rocks, From the terror of the LORD And the glory of His majesty, When He arises to shake the earth mightily.

²²Sever yourselves from such a man, Whose breath is in his nostrils; For of what account is he?

¹Now when they had escaped, they then found out that the island was called Malta.

²And the natives showed us unusual kindness; for they kindled a fire and made us all welcome, because of the rain that was falling and because of the cold.

³But when Paul had gathered a bundle of sticks and laid them on the fire, a viper came out because of the heat, and fastened on his hand.

⁴So when the natives saw the creature hanging from his hand, they said to one another, “No doubt this man is a murderer, whom, though he has escaped the sea, yet justice does not allow to live.”

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

⁶However, they were expecting that he would swell up or suddenly fall down dead. But after they had looked for a long time and saw no harm come to him, they changed their minds and said that he was a god.

⁷In that region there was an estate of the leading citizen of the island, whose name was Publius, who received us and entertained us courteously for three days.

⁸And it happened that the father of Publius lay sick of a fever and dysentery. Paul went in to him and prayed, and he laid his hands on him and healed him.

⁹So when this was done, the rest of those on the island who had diseases also came and were healed.

¹⁰They also honored us in many ways; and when we departed, they provided such things as were necessary.

¹¹After three months we sailed in an Alexandrian ship whose figurehead was the Twin Brothers, which had wintered at the island.

¹²And landing at Syracuse, we stayed three days.

¹³From there we circled round and reached Rhegium. And after one day the south wind blew; and the next day we came to Puteoli,

¹⁴where we found brethren, and were invited to stay with them seven days. And so we went toward Rome.

¹⁵And from there, when the brethren heard about us, they came to meet us as far as Appii Forum and Three Inns. When Paul saw them, he thanked God and took courage.

¹⁶Now when we came to Rome, the centurion delivered the prisoners to the captain of the guard; but Paul was permitted to dwell by himself with the soldier who guarded him.

¹⁷And it came to pass after three days that Paul called the leaders of the Jews together. So when they had come together, he said to them: “Men and brethren, though I have done nothing against our people or the customs of our fathers, yet I was delivered as a prisoner from Jerusalem into the hands of the Romans,

¹⁸who, when they had examined me, wanted to let me go, because there was no cause for putting me to death.

¹⁹But when the Jews spoke against it, I was compelled to appeal to Caesar, not that I had anything of which to accuse my nation.

²⁰For this reason therefore I have called for you, to see you and speak with you, because for the hope of Israel I am bound with this chain.”

²¹Then they said to him, “We neither received letters from Judea concerning you, nor have any of the brethren who came reported or spoken any evil of you.

²²But we desire to hear from you what you think; for concerning this sect, we know that it is spoken against everywhere.”

²³So when they had appointed him a day, many came to him at his lodging, to whom he explained and solemnly testified of the kingdom of God, persuading them concerning Jesus from both the Law of Moses and the Prophets, from morning till evening.

²⁴And some were persuaded by the things which were spoken, and some disbelieved.

²⁵So when they did not agree among themselves, they departed after Paul had said one word: “The Holy Spirit spoke rightly through Isaiah the prophet to our fathers,

²⁶saying, ‘Go to this people and say: “Hearing you will hear, and shall not understand; And seeing you will see, and not perceive;

²⁷For the hearts of this people have grown dull. Their ears are hard of hearing, And their eyes they have closed, Lest they should see with their eyes and hear with their ears, Lest they should understand with their hearts and turn, So that I should heal them.” ’

²⁸“Therefore let it be known to you that the salvation of God has been sent to the Gentiles, and they will hear it!”

²⁹And when he had said these words, the Jews departed and had a great dispute among themselves.

³⁰Then Paul dwelt two whole years in his own rented house, and received all who came to him,

³¹preaching the kingdom of God and teaching the things which concern the Lord Jesus Christ with all confidence, no one forbidding him.