Professor Horner’s Reading Plan

¹After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the time of King Herod, Magi from the east came to Jerusalem

²and asked, “Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews? We saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him.”

³When King Herod heard this he was disturbed, and all Jerusalem with him.

⁴When he had called together all the people’s chief priests and teachers of the law, he asked them where the Messiah was to be born.

⁵“In Bethlehem in Judea,” they replied, “for this is what the prophet has written:

⁶“ ‘But you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, are by no means least among the rulers of Judah; for out of you will come a ruler who will shepherd my people Israel.’”

⁷Then Herod called the Magi secretly and found out from them the exact time the star had appeared.

⁸He sent them to Bethlehem and said, “Go and search carefully for the child. As soon as you find him, report to me, so that I too may go and worship him.”

⁹After they had heard the king, they went on their way, and the star they had seen when it rose went ahead of them until it stopped over the place where the child was.

¹⁰When they saw the star, they were overjoyed.

¹¹On coming to the house, they saw the child with his mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him. Then they opened their treasures and presented him with gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh.

¹²And having been warned in a dream not to go back to Herod, they returned to their country by another route.

¹³When they had gone, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream. “Get up,” he said, “take the child and his mother and escape to Egypt. Stay there until I tell you, for Herod is going to search for the child to kill him.”

¹⁴So he got up, took the child and his mother during the night and left for Egypt,

¹⁵where he stayed until the death of Herod. And so was fulfilled what the Lord had said through the prophet: “Out of Egypt I called my son.”

¹⁶When Herod realized that he had been outwitted by the Magi, he was furious, and he gave orders to kill all the boys in Bethlehem and its vicinity who were two years old and under, in accordance with the time he had learned from the Magi.

¹⁷Then what was said through the prophet Jeremiah was fulfilled:

¹⁸“A voice is heard in Ramah, weeping and great mourning, Rachel weeping for her children and refusing to be comforted, because they are no more.”

¹⁹After Herod died, an angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt

²⁰and said, “Get up, take the child and his mother and go to the land of Israel, for those who were trying to take the child’s life are dead.”

²¹So he got up, took the child and his mother and went to the land of Israel.

²²But when he heard that Archelaus was reigning in Judea in place of his father Herod, he was afraid to go there. Having been warned in a dream, he withdrew to the district of Galilee,

²³and he went and lived in a town called Nazareth. So was fulfilled what was said through the prophets, that he would be called a Nazarene.

¹When the people saw that Moses was so long in coming down from the mountain, they gathered around Aaron and said, “Come, make us gods who will go before us. As for this fellow Moses who brought us up out of Egypt, we don’t know what has happened to him.”

²Aaron answered them, “Take off the gold earrings that your wives, your sons and your daughters are wearing, and bring them to me.”

³So all the people took off their earrings and brought them to Aaron.

⁴He took what they handed him and made it into an idol cast in the shape of a calf, fashioning it with a tool. Then they said, “These are your gods, Israel, who brought you up out of Egypt.”

⁵When Aaron saw this, he built an altar in front of the calf and announced, “Tomorrow there will be a festival to the LORD.”

⁶So the next day the people rose early and sacrificed burnt offerings and presented fellowship offerings. Afterward they sat down to eat and drink and got up to indulge in revelry.

⁷Then the LORD said to Moses, “Go down, because your people, whom you brought up out of Egypt, have become corrupt.

⁸They have been quick to turn away from what I commanded them and have made themselves an idol cast in the shape of a calf. They have bowed down to it and sacrificed to it and have said, ‘These are your gods, Israel, who brought you up out of Egypt.’

⁹“I have seen these people,” the LORD said to Moses, “and they are a stiff-necked people.

¹⁰Now leave me alone so that my anger may burn against them and that I may destroy them. Then I will make you into a great nation.”

¹¹But Moses sought the favor of the LORD his God. “LORD,” he said, “why should your anger burn against your people, whom you brought out of Egypt with great power and a mighty hand?

¹²Why should the Egyptians say, ‘It was with evil intent that he brought them out, to kill them in the mountains and to wipe them off the face of the earth’? Turn from your fierce anger; relent and do not bring disaster on your people.

¹³Remember your servants Abraham, Isaac and Israel, to whom you swore by your own self: ‘I will make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and I will give your descendants all this land I promised them, and it will be their inheritance forever.’ ”

¹⁴Then the LORD relented and did not bring on his people the disaster he had threatened.

¹⁵Moses turned and went down the mountain with the two tablets of the covenant law in his hands. They were inscribed on both sides, front and back.

¹⁶The tablets were the work of God; the writing was the writing of God, engraved on the tablets.

¹⁷When Joshua heard the noise of the people shouting, he said to Moses, “There is the sound of war in the camp.”

¹⁸Moses replied: “It is not the sound of victory, it is not the sound of defeat; it is the sound of singing that I hear.”

¹⁹When Moses approached the camp and saw the calf and the dancing, his anger burned and he threw the tablets out of his hands, breaking them to pieces at the foot of the mountain.

²⁰And he took the calf the people had made and burned it in the fire; then he ground it to powder, scattered it on the water and made the Israelites drink it.

²¹He said to Aaron, “What did these people do to you, that you led them into such great sin?”

²²“Do not be angry, my lord,” Aaron answered. “You know how prone these people are to evil.

²³They said to me, ‘Make us gods who will go before us. As for this fellow Moses who brought us up out of Egypt, we don’t know what has happened to him.’

²⁴So I told them, ‘Whoever has any gold jewelry, take it off.’ Then they gave me the gold, and I threw it into the fire, and out came this calf!”

²⁵Moses saw that the people were running wild and that Aaron had let them get out of control and so become a laughingstock to their enemies.

²⁶So he stood at the entrance to the camp and said, “Whoever is for the LORD, come to me.” And all the Levites rallied to him.

²⁷Then he said to them, “This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: ‘Each man strap a sword to his side. Go back and forth through the camp from one end to the other, each killing his brother and friend and neighbor.’ ”

²⁸The Levites did as Moses commanded, and that day about three thousand of the people died.

²⁹Then Moses said, “You have been set apart to the LORD today, for you were against your own sons and brothers, and he has blessed you this day.”

³⁰The next day Moses said to the people, “You have committed a great sin. But now I will go up to the LORD; perhaps I can make atonement for your sin.”

³¹So Moses went back to the LORD and said, “Oh, what a great sin these people have committed! They have made themselves gods of gold.

³²But now, please forgive their sin—but if not, then blot me out of the book you have written.”

³³The LORD replied to Moses, “Whoever has sinned against me I will blot out of my book.

³⁴Now go, lead the people to the place I spoke of, and my angel will go before you. However, when the time comes for me to punish, I will punish them for their sin.”

³⁵And the LORD struck the people with a plague because of what they did with the calf Aaron had made.

¹Are we beginning to commend ourselves again? Or do we need, like some people, letters of recommendation to you or from you?

²You yourselves are our letter, written on our hearts, known and read by everyone.

³You show that you are a letter from Christ, the result of our ministry, written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of human hearts.

⁴Such confidence we have through Christ before God.

⁵Not that we are competent in ourselves to claim anything for ourselves, but our competence comes from God.

⁶He has made us competent as ministers of a new covenant—not of the letter but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life.

⁷Now if the ministry that brought death, which was engraved in letters on stone, came with glory, so that the Israelites could not look steadily at the face of Moses because of its glory, transitory though it was,

⁸will not the ministry of the Spirit be even more glorious?

⁹If the ministry that brought condemnation was glorious, how much more glorious is the ministry that brings righteousness!

¹⁰For what was glorious has no glory now in comparison with the surpassing glory.

¹¹And if what was transitory came with glory, how much greater is the glory of that which lasts!

¹²Therefore, since we have such a hope, we are very bold.

¹³We are not like Moses, who would put a veil over his face to prevent the Israelites from seeing the end of what was passing away.

¹⁴But their minds were made dull, for to this day the same veil remains when the old covenant is read. It has not been removed, because only in Christ is it taken away.

¹⁵Even to this day when Moses is read, a veil covers their hearts.

¹⁶But whenever anyone turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away.

¹⁷Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.

¹⁸And we all, who with unveiled faces contemplate the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his image with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.

¹Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the command of God our Savior and of Christ Jesus our hope,

²To Timothy my true son in the faith: Grace, mercy and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord.

³As I urged you when I went into Macedonia, stay there in Ephesus so that you may command certain people not to teach false doctrines any longer

⁴or to devote themselves to myths and endless genealogies. Such things promote controversial speculations rather than advancing God’s work—which is by faith.

⁵The goal of this command is love, which comes from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith.

⁶Some have departed from these and have turned to meaningless talk.

⁷They want to be teachers of the law, but they do not know what they are talking about or what they so confidently affirm.

⁸We know that the law is good if one uses it properly.

⁹We also know that the law is made not for the righteous but for lawbreakers and rebels, the ungodly and sinful, the unholy and irreligious, for those who kill their fathers or mothers, for murderers,

¹⁰for the sexually immoral, for those practicing homosexuality, for slave traders and liars and perjurers—and for whatever else is contrary to the sound doctrine

¹¹that conforms to the gospel concerning the glory of the blessed God, which he entrusted to me.

¹²I thank Christ Jesus our Lord, who has given me strength, that he considered me trustworthy, appointing me to his service.

¹³Even though I was once a blasphemer and a persecutor and a violent man, I was shown mercy because I acted in ignorance and unbelief.

¹⁴The grace of our Lord was poured out on me abundantly, along with the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus.

¹⁵Here is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance: Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners—of whom I am the worst.

¹⁶But for that very reason I was shown mercy so that in me, the worst of sinners, Christ Jesus might display his immense patience as an example for those who would believe in him and receive eternal life.

¹⁷Now to the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory for ever and ever. Amen.

¹⁸Timothy, my son, I am giving you this command in keeping with the prophecies once made about you, so that by recalling them you may fight the battle well,

¹⁹holding on to faith and a good conscience, which some have rejected and so have suffered shipwreck with regard to the faith.

²⁰Among them are Hymenaeus and Alexander, whom I have handed over to Satan to be taught not to blaspheme.

¹Then Job replied:

²“Listen carefully to my words; let this be the consolation you give me.

³Bear with me while I speak, and after I have spoken, mock on.

⁴“Is my complaint directed to a human being? Why should I not be impatient?

⁵Look at me and be appalled; clap your hand over your mouth.

⁶When I think about this, I am terrified; trembling seizes my body.

⁷Why do the wicked live on, growing old and increasing in power?

⁸They see their children established around them, their offspring before their eyes.

⁹Their homes are safe and free from fear; the rod of God is not on them.

¹⁰Their bulls never fail to breed; their cows calve and do not miscarry.

¹¹They send forth their children as a flock; their little ones dance about.

¹²They sing to the music of timbrel and lyre; they make merry to the sound of the pipe.

¹³They spend their years in prosperity and go down to the grave in peace.

¹⁴Yet they say to God, ‘Leave us alone! We have no desire to know your ways.

¹⁵Who is the Almighty, that we should serve him? What would we gain by praying to him?’

¹⁶But their prosperity is not in their own hands, so I stand aloof from the plans of the wicked.

¹⁷“Yet how often is the lamp of the wicked snuffed out? How often does calamity come upon them, the fate God allots in his anger?

¹⁸How often are they like straw before the wind, like chaff swept away by a gale?

¹⁹It is said, ‘God stores up the punishment of the wicked for their children.’ Let him repay the wicked, so that they themselves will experience it!

²⁰Let their own eyes see their destruction; let them drink the cup of the wrath of the Almighty.

²¹For what do they care about the families they leave behind when their allotted months come to an end?

²²“Can anyone teach knowledge to God, since he judges even the highest?

²³One person dies in full vigor, completely secure and at ease,

²⁴well nourished in body, bones rich with marrow.

²⁵Another dies in bitterness of soul, never having enjoyed anything good.

²⁶Side by side they lie in the dust, and worms cover them both.

²⁷“I know full well what you are thinking, the schemes by which you would wrong me.

²⁸You say, ‘Where now is the house of the great, the tents where the wicked lived?’

²⁹Have you never questioned those who travel? Have you paid no regard to their accounts—

³⁰that the wicked are spared from the day of calamity, that they are delivered from the day of wrath?

³¹Who denounces their conduct to their face? Who repays them for what they have done?

³²They are carried to the grave, and watch is kept over their tombs.

³³The soil in the valley is sweet to them; everyone follows after them, and a countless throng goes before them.

³⁴“So how can you console me with your nonsense? Nothing is left of your answers but falsehood!”

¹Blessed are those whose ways are blameless, who walk according to the law of the LORD.

²Blessed are those who keep his statutes and seek him with all their heart—

³they do no wrong but follow his ways.

⁴You have laid down precepts that are to be fully obeyed.

⁵Oh, that my ways were steadfast in obeying your decrees!

⁶Then I would not be put to shame when I consider all your commands.

⁷I will praise you with an upright heart as I learn your righteous laws.

⁸I will obey your decrees; do not utterly forsake me.

⁹How can a young person stay on the path of purity? By living according to your word.

¹⁰I seek you with all my heart; do not let me stray from your commands.

¹¹I have hidden your word in my heart that I might not sin against you.

¹²Praise be to you, LORD; teach me your decrees.

¹³With my lips I recount all the laws that come from your mouth.

¹⁴I rejoice in following your statutes as one rejoices in great riches.

¹⁵I meditate on your precepts and consider your ways.

¹⁶I delight in your decrees; I will not neglect your word.

¹⁷Be good to your servant while I live, that I may obey your word.

¹⁸Open my eyes that I may see wonderful things in your law.

¹⁹I am a stranger on earth; do not hide your commands from me.

²⁰My soul is consumed with longing for your laws at all times.

²¹You rebuke the arrogant, who are accursed, those who stray from your commands.

²²Remove from me their scorn and contempt, for I keep your statutes.

²³Though rulers sit together and slander me, your servant will meditate on your decrees.

²⁴Your statutes are my delight; they are my counselors.

²⁵I am laid low in the dust; preserve my life according to your word.

²⁶I gave an account of my ways and you answered me; teach me your decrees.

²⁷Cause me to understand the way of your precepts, that I may meditate on your wonderful deeds.

²⁸My soul is weary with sorrow; strengthen me according to your word.

²⁹Keep me from deceitful ways; be gracious to me and teach me your law.

³⁰I have chosen the way of faithfulness; I have set my heart on your laws.

³¹I hold fast to your statutes, LORD; do not let me be put to shame.

³²I run in the path of your commands, for you have broadened my understanding.

³³Teach me, LORD, the way of your decrees, that I may follow it to the end.

³⁴Give me understanding, so that I may keep your law and obey it with all my heart.

³⁵Direct me in the path of your commands, for there I find delight.

³⁶Turn my heart toward your statutes and not toward selfish gain.

³⁷Turn my eyes away from worthless things; preserve my life according to your word.

³⁸Fulfill your promise to your servant, so that you may be feared.

³⁹Take away the disgrace I dread, for your laws are good.

⁴⁰How I long for your precepts! In your righteousness preserve my life.

⁴¹May your unfailing love come to me, LORD, your salvation, according to your promise;

⁴²then I can answer anyone who taunts me, for I trust in your word.

⁴³Never take your word of truth from my mouth, for I have put my hope in your laws.

⁴⁴I will always obey your law, for ever and ever.

⁴⁵I will walk about in freedom, for I have sought out your precepts.

⁴⁶I will speak of your statutes before kings and will not be put to shame,

⁴⁷for I delight in your commands because I love them.

⁴⁸I reach out for your commands, which I love, that I may meditate on your decrees.

⁴⁹Remember your word to your servant, for you have given me hope.

⁵⁰My comfort in my suffering is this: Your promise preserves my life.

⁵¹The arrogant mock me unmercifully, but I do not turn from your law.

⁵²I remember, LORD, your ancient laws, and I find comfort in them.

⁵³Indignation grips me because of the wicked, who have forsaken your law.

⁵⁴Your decrees are the theme of my song wherever I lodge.

⁵⁵In the night, LORD, I remember your name, that I may keep your law.

⁵⁶This has been my practice: I obey your precepts.

⁵⁷You are my portion, LORD; I have promised to obey your words.

⁵⁸I have sought your face with all my heart; be gracious to me according to your promise.

⁵⁹I have considered my ways and have turned my steps to your statutes.

⁶⁰I will hasten and not delay to obey your commands.

⁶¹Though the wicked bind me with ropes, I will not forget your law.

⁶²At midnight I rise to give you thanks for your righteous laws.

⁶³I am a friend to all who fear you, to all who follow your precepts.

⁶⁴The earth is filled with your love, LORD; teach me your decrees.

⁶⁵Do good to your servant according to your word, LORD.

⁶⁶Teach me knowledge and good judgment, for I trust your commands.

⁶⁷Before I was afflicted I went astray, but now I obey your word.

⁶⁸You are good, and what you do is good; teach me your decrees.

⁶⁹Though the arrogant have smeared me with lies, I keep your precepts with all my heart.

⁷⁰Their hearts are callous and unfeeling, but I delight in your law.

⁷¹It was good for me to be afflicted so that I might learn your decrees.

⁷²The law from your mouth is more precious to me than thousands of pieces of silver and gold.

⁷³Your hands made me and formed me; give me understanding to learn your commands.

⁷⁴May those who fear you rejoice when they see me, for I have put my hope in your word.

⁷⁵I know, LORD, that your laws are righteous, and that in faithfulness you have afflicted me.

⁷⁶May your unfailing love be my comfort, according to your promise to your servant.

⁷⁷Let your compassion come to me that I may live, for your law is my delight.

⁷⁸May the arrogant be put to shame for wronging me without cause; but I will meditate on your precepts.

⁷⁹May those who fear you turn to me, those who understand your statutes.

⁸⁰May I wholeheartedly follow your decrees, that I may not be put to shame.

⁸¹My soul faints with longing for your salvation, but I have put my hope in your word.

⁸²My eyes fail, looking for your promise; I say, “When will you comfort me?”

⁸³Though I am like a wineskin in the smoke, I do not forget your decrees.

⁸⁴How long must your servant wait? When will you punish my persecutors?

⁸⁵The arrogant dig pits to trap me, contrary to your law.

⁸⁶All your commands are trustworthy; help me, for I am being persecuted without cause.

⁸⁷They almost wiped me from the earth, but I have not forsaken your precepts.

⁸⁸In your unfailing love preserve my life, that I may obey the statutes of your mouth.

⁸⁹Your word, LORD, is eternal; it stands firm in the heavens.

⁹⁰Your faithfulness continues through all generations; you established the earth, and it endures.

⁹¹Your laws endure to this day, for all things serve you.

⁹²If your law had not been my delight, I would have perished in my affliction.

⁹³I will never forget your precepts, for by them you have preserved my life.

⁹⁴Save me, for I am yours; I have sought out your precepts.

⁹⁵The wicked are waiting to destroy me, but I will ponder your statutes.

⁹⁶To all perfection I see a limit, but your commands are boundless.

⁹⁷Oh, how I love your law! I meditate on it all day long.

⁹⁸Your commands are always with me and make me wiser than my enemies.

⁹⁹I have more insight than all my teachers, for I meditate on your statutes.

¹⁰⁰I have more understanding than the elders, for I obey your precepts.

¹⁰¹I have kept my feet from every evil path so that I might obey your word.

¹⁰²I have not departed from your laws, for you yourself have taught me.

¹⁰³How sweet are your words to my taste, sweeter than honey to my mouth!

¹⁰⁴I gain understanding from your precepts; therefore I hate every wrong path.

¹⁰⁵Your word is a lamp for my feet, a light on my path.

¹⁰⁶I have taken an oath and confirmed it, that I will follow your righteous laws.

¹⁰⁷I have suffered much; preserve my life, LORD, according to your word.

¹⁰⁸Accept, LORD, the willing praise of my mouth, and teach me your laws.

¹⁰⁹Though I constantly take my life in my hands, I will not forget your law.

¹¹⁰The wicked have set a snare for me, but I have not strayed from your precepts.

¹¹¹Your statutes are my heritage forever; they are the joy of my heart.

¹¹²My heart is set on keeping your decrees to the very end.

¹¹³I hate double-minded people, but I love your law.

¹¹⁴You are my refuge and my shield; I have put my hope in your word.

¹¹⁵Away from me, you evildoers, that I may keep the commands of my God!

¹¹⁶Sustain me, my God, according to your promise, and I will live; do not let my hopes be dashed.

¹¹⁷Uphold me, and I will be delivered; I will always have regard for your decrees.

¹¹⁸You reject all who stray from your decrees, for their delusions come to nothing.

¹¹⁹All the wicked of the earth you discard like dross; therefore I love your statutes.

¹²⁰My flesh trembles in fear of you; I stand in awe of your laws.

¹²¹I have done what is righteous and just; do not leave me to my oppressors.

¹²²Ensure your servant’s well-being; do not let the arrogant oppress me.

¹²³My eyes fail, looking for your salvation, looking for your righteous promise.

¹²⁴Deal with your servant according to your love and teach me your decrees.

¹²⁵I am your servant; give me discernment that I may understand your statutes.

¹²⁶It is time for you to act, LORD; your law is being broken.

¹²⁷Because I love your commands more than gold, more than pure gold,

¹²⁸and because I consider all your precepts right, I hate every wrong path.

¹²⁹Your statutes are wonderful; therefore I obey them.

¹³⁰The unfolding of your words gives light; it gives understanding to the simple.

¹³¹I open my mouth and pant, longing for your commands.

¹³²Turn to me and have mercy on me, as you always do to those who love your name.

¹³³Direct my footsteps according to your word; let no sin rule over me.

¹³⁴Redeem me from human oppression, that I may obey your precepts.

¹³⁵Make your face shine on your servant and teach me your decrees.

¹³⁶Streams of tears flow from my eyes, for your law is not obeyed.

¹³⁷You are righteous, LORD, and your laws are right.

¹³⁸The statutes you have laid down are righteous; they are fully trustworthy.

¹³⁹My zeal wears me out, for my enemies ignore your words.

¹⁴⁰Your promises have been thoroughly tested, and your servant loves them.

¹⁴¹Though I am lowly and despised, I do not forget your precepts.

¹⁴²Your righteousness is everlasting and your law is true.

¹⁴³Trouble and distress have come upon me, but your commands give me delight.

¹⁴⁴Your statutes are always righteous; give me understanding that I may live.

¹⁴⁵I call with all my heart; answer me, LORD, and I will obey your decrees.

¹⁴⁶I call out to you; save me and I will keep your statutes.

¹⁴⁷I rise before dawn and cry for help; I have put my hope in your word.

¹⁴⁸My eyes stay open through the watches of the night, that I may meditate on your promises.

¹⁴⁹Hear my voice in accordance with your love; preserve my life, LORD, according to your laws.

¹⁵⁰Those who devise wicked schemes are near, but they are far from your law.

¹⁵¹Yet you are near, LORD, and all your commands are true.

¹⁵²Long ago I learned from your statutes that you established them to last forever.

¹⁵³Look on my suffering and deliver me, for I have not forgotten your law.

¹⁵⁴Defend my cause and redeem me; preserve my life according to your promise.

¹⁵⁵Salvation is far from the wicked, for they do not seek out your decrees.

¹⁵⁶Your compassion, LORD, is great; preserve my life according to your laws.

¹⁵⁷Many are the foes who persecute me, but I have not turned from your statutes.

¹⁵⁸I look on the faithless with loathing, for they do not obey your word.

¹⁵⁹See how I love your precepts; preserve my life, LORD, in accordance with your love.

¹⁶⁰All your words are true; all your righteous laws are eternal.

¹⁶¹Rulers persecute me without cause, but my heart trembles at your word.

¹⁶²I rejoice in your promise like one who finds great spoil.

¹⁶³I hate and detest falsehood but I love your law.

¹⁶⁴Seven times a day I praise you for your righteous laws.

¹⁶⁵Great peace have those who love your law, and nothing can make them stumble.

¹⁶⁶I wait for your salvation, LORD, and I follow your commands.

¹⁶⁷I obey your statutes, for I love them greatly.

¹⁶⁸I obey your precepts and your statutes, for all my ways are known to you.

¹⁶⁹May my cry come before you, LORD; give me understanding according to your word.

¹⁷⁰May my supplication come before you; deliver me according to your promise.

¹⁷¹May my lips overflow with praise, for you teach me your decrees.

¹⁷²May my tongue sing of your word, for all your commands are righteous.

¹⁷³May your hand be ready to help me, for I have chosen your precepts.

¹⁷⁴I long for your salvation, LORD, and your law gives me delight.

¹⁷⁵Let me live that I may praise you, and may your laws sustain me.

¹⁷⁶I have strayed like a lost sheep. Seek your servant, for I have not forgotten your commands.

¹In the LORD’s hand the king’s heart is a stream of water that he channels toward all who please him.

²A person may think their own ways are right, but the LORD weighs the heart.

³To do what is right and just is more acceptable to the LORD than sacrifice.

⁴Haughty eyes and a proud heart— the unplowed field of the wicked—produce sin.

⁵The plans of the diligent lead to profit as surely as haste leads to poverty.

⁶A fortune made by a lying tongue is a fleeting vapor and a deadly snare.

⁷The violence of the wicked will drag them away, for they refuse to do what is right.

⁸The way of the guilty is devious, but the conduct of the innocent is upright.

⁹Better to live on a corner of the roof than share a house with a quarrelsome wife.

¹⁰The wicked crave evil; their neighbors get no mercy from them.

¹¹When a mocker is punished, the simple gain wisdom; by paying attention to the wise they get knowledge.

¹²The Righteous One takes note of the house of the wicked and brings the wicked to ruin.

¹³Whoever shuts their ears to the cry of the poor will also cry out and not be answered.

¹⁴A gift given in secret soothes anger, and a bribe concealed in the cloak pacifies great wrath.

¹⁵When justice is done, it brings joy to the righteous but terror to evildoers.

¹⁶Whoever strays from the path of prudence comes to rest in the company of the dead.

¹⁷Whoever loves pleasure will become poor; whoever loves wine and olive oil will never be rich.

¹⁸The wicked become a ransom for the righteous, and the unfaithful for the upright.

¹⁹Better to live in a desert than with a quarrelsome and nagging wife.

²⁰The wise store up choice food and olive oil, but fools gulp theirs down.

²¹Whoever pursues righteousness and love finds life, prosperity and honor.

²²One who is wise can go up against the city of the mighty and pull down the stronghold in which they trust.

²³Those who guard their mouths and their tongues keep themselves from calamity.

²⁴The proud and arrogant person—“Mocker” is his name— behaves with insolent fury.

²⁵The craving of a sluggard will be the death of him, because his hands refuse to work.

²⁶All day long he craves for more, but the righteous give without sparing.

²⁷The sacrifice of the wicked is detestable— how much more so when brought with evil intent!

²⁸A false witness will perish, but a careful listener will testify successfully.

²⁹The wicked put up a bold front, but the upright give thought to their ways.

³⁰There is no wisdom, no insight, no plan that can succeed against the LORD.

³¹The horse is made ready for the day of battle, but victory rests with the LORD.

¹Then the LORD said to Joshua:

²“Tell the Israelites to designate the cities of refuge, as I instructed you through Moses,

³so that anyone who kills a person accidentally and unintentionally may flee there and find protection from the avenger of blood.

⁴When they flee to one of these cities, they are to stand in the entrance of the city gate and state their case before the elders of that city. Then the elders are to admit the fugitive into their city and provide a place to live among them.

⁵If the avenger of blood comes in pursuit, the elders must not surrender the fugitive, because the fugitive killed their neighbor unintentionally and without malice aforethought.

⁶They are to stay in that city until they have stood trial before the assembly and until the death of the high priest who is serving at that time. Then they may go back to their own home in the town from which they fled.”

⁷So they set apart Kedesh in Galilee in the hill country of Naphtali, Shechem in the hill country of Ephraim, and Kiriath Arba (that is, Hebron) in the hill country of Judah.

⁸East of the Jordan (on the other side from Jericho) they designated Bezer in the wilderness on the plateau in the tribe of Reuben, Ramoth in Gilead in the tribe of Gad, and Golan in Bashan in the tribe of Manasseh.

⁹Any of the Israelites or any foreigner residing among them who killed someone accidentally could flee to these designated cities and not be killed by the avenger of blood prior to standing trial before the assembly.

¹A prophecy against Egypt: See, the LORD rides on a swift cloud and is coming to Egypt. The idols of Egypt tremble before him, and the hearts of the Egyptians melt with fear.

²“I will stir up Egyptian against Egyptian— brother will fight against brother, neighbor against neighbor, city against city, kingdom against kingdom.

³The Egyptians will lose heart, and I will bring their plans to nothing; they will consult the idols and the spirits of the dead, the mediums and the spiritists.

⁴I will hand the Egyptians over to the power of a cruel master, and a fierce king will rule over them,” declares the Lord, the LORD Almighty.

⁵The waters of the river will dry up, and the riverbed will be parched and dry.

⁶The canals will stink; the streams of Egypt will dwindle and dry up. The reeds and rushes will wither,

⁷also the plants along the Nile, at the mouth of the river. Every sown field along the Nile will become parched, will blow away and be no more.

⁸The fishermen will groan and lament, all who cast hooks into the Nile; those who throw nets on the water will pine away.

⁹Those who work with combed flax will despair, the weavers of fine linen will lose hope.

¹⁰The workers in cloth will be dejected, and all the wage earners will be sick at heart.

¹¹The officials of Zoan are nothing but fools; the wise counselors of Pharaoh give senseless advice. How can you say to Pharaoh, “I am one of the wise men, a disciple of the ancient kings”?

¹²Where are your wise men now? Let them show you and make known what the LORD Almighty has planned against Egypt.

¹³The officials of Zoan have become fools, the leaders of Memphis are deceived; the cornerstones of her peoples have led Egypt astray.

¹⁴The LORD has poured into them a spirit of dizziness; they make Egypt stagger in all that she does, as a drunkard staggers around in his vomit.

¹⁵There is nothing Egypt can do— head or tail, palm branch or reed.

¹⁶In that day the Egyptians will become weaklings. They will shudder with fear at the uplifted hand that the LORD Almighty raises against them.

¹⁷And the land of Judah will bring terror to the Egyptians; everyone to whom Judah is mentioned will be terrified, because of what the LORD Almighty is planning against them.

¹⁸In that day five cities in Egypt will speak the language of Canaan and swear allegiance to the LORD Almighty. One of them will be called the City of the Sun.

¹⁹In that day there will be an altar to the LORD in the heart of Egypt, and a monument to the LORD at its border.

²⁰It will be a sign and witness to the LORD Almighty in the land of Egypt. When they cry out to the LORD because of their oppressors, he will send them a savior and defender, and he will rescue them.

²¹So the LORD will make himself known to the Egyptians, and in that day they will acknowledge the LORD. They will worship with sacrifices and grain offerings; they will make vows to the LORD and keep them.

²²The LORD will strike Egypt with a plague; he will strike them and heal them. They will turn to the LORD, and he will respond to their pleas and heal them.

²³In that day there will be a highway from Egypt to Assyria. The Assyrians will go to Egypt and the Egyptians to Assyria. The Egyptians and Assyrians will worship together.

²⁴In that day Israel will be the third, along with Egypt and Assyria, a blessing on the earth.

²⁵The LORD Almighty will bless them, saying, “Blessed be Egypt my people, Assyria my handiwork, and Israel my inheritance.”

¹When Paul and his companions had passed through Amphipolis and Apollonia, they came to Thessalonica, where there was a Jewish synagogue.

²As was his custom, Paul went into the synagogue, and on three Sabbath days he reasoned with them from the Scriptures,

³explaining and proving that the Messiah had to suffer and rise from the dead. “This Jesus I am proclaiming to you is the Messiah,” he said.

⁴Some of the Jews were persuaded and joined Paul and Silas, as did a large number of God-fearing Greeks and quite a few prominent women.

⁵But other Jews were jealous; so they rounded up some bad characters from the marketplace, formed a mob and started a riot in the city. They rushed to Jason’s house in search of Paul and Silas in order to bring them out to the crowd.

⁶But when they did not find them, they dragged Jason and some other believers before the city officials, shouting: “These men who have caused trouble all over the world have now come here,

⁷and Jason has welcomed them into his house. They are all defying Caesar’s decrees, saying that there is another king, one called Jesus.”

⁸When they heard this, the crowd and the city officials were thrown into turmoil.

⁹Then they made Jason and the others post bond and let them go.

¹⁰As soon as it was night, the believers sent Paul and Silas away to Berea. On arriving there, they went to the Jewish synagogue.

¹¹Now the Berean Jews were of more noble character than those in Thessalonica, for they received the message with great eagerness and examined the Scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true.

¹²As a result, many of them believed, as did also a number of prominent Greek women and many Greek men.

¹³But when the Jews in Thessalonica learned that Paul was preaching the word of God at Berea, some of them went there too, agitating the crowds and stirring them up.

¹⁴The believers immediately sent Paul to the coast, but Silas and Timothy stayed at Berea.

¹⁵Those who escorted Paul brought him to Athens and then left with instructions for Silas and Timothy to join him as soon as possible.

¹⁶While Paul was waiting for them in Athens, he was greatly distressed to see that the city was full of idols.

¹⁷So he reasoned in the synagogue with both Jews and God-fearing Greeks, as well as in the marketplace day by day with those who happened to be there.

¹⁸A group of Epicurean and Stoic philosophers began to debate with him. Some of them asked, “What is this babbler trying to say?” Others remarked, “He seems to be advocating foreign gods.” They said this because Paul was preaching the good news about Jesus and the resurrection.

¹⁹Then they took him and brought him to a meeting of the Areopagus, where they said to him, “May we know what this new teaching is that you are presenting?

²⁰You are bringing some strange ideas to our ears, and we would like to know what they mean.”

²¹(All the Athenians and the foreigners who lived there spent their time doing nothing but talking about and listening to the latest ideas.)

²²Paul then stood up in the meeting of the Areopagus and said: “People of Athens! I see that in every way you are very religious.

²³For as I walked around and looked carefully at your objects of worship, I even found an altar with this inscription: TO AN UNKNOWN GOD. So you are ignorant of the very thing you worship—and this is what I am going to proclaim to you.

²⁴“The God who made the world and everything in it is the Lord of heaven and earth and does not live in temples built by human hands.

²⁵And he is not served by human hands, as if he needed anything. Rather, he himself gives everyone life and breath and everything else.

²⁶From one man he made all the nations, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and he marked out their appointed times in history and the boundaries of their lands.

²⁷God did this so that they would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from any one of us.

²⁸‘For in him we live and move and have our being.’ As some of your own poets have said, ‘We are his offspring.’

²⁹“Therefore since we are God’s offspring, we should not think that the divine being is like gold or silver or stone—an image made by human design and skill.

³⁰In the past God overlooked such ignorance, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent.

³¹For he has set a day when he will judge the world with justice by the man he has appointed. He has given proof of this to everyone by raising him from the dead.”

³²When they heard about the resurrection of the dead, some of them sneered, but others said, “We want to hear you again on this subject.”

³³At that, Paul left the Council.

³⁴Some of the people became followers of Paul and believed. Among them was Dionysius, a member of the Areopagus, also a woman named Damaris, and a number of others.