Professor Horner’s Reading Plan

¹In the time of King Herod, after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea, wise men from the East came to Jerusalem,

²asking, “Where is the child who has been born king of the Jews? For we observed his star at its rising, and have come to pay him homage.”

³When King Herod heard this, he was frightened, and all Jerusalem with him;

⁴and calling together all the chief priests and scribes of the people, he inquired of them where the Messiah was to be born.

⁵They told him, “In Bethlehem of Judea; for so it has been written by the prophet:

⁶‘And you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, are by no means least among the rulers of Judah; for from you shall come a ruler who is to shepherd my people Israel.’”

⁷Then Herod secretly called for the wise men and learned from them the exact time when the star had appeared.

⁸Then he sent them to Bethlehem, saying, “Go and search diligently for the child; and when you have found him, bring me word so that I may also go and pay him homage.”

⁹When they had heard the king, they set out; and there, ahead of them, went the star that they had seen at its rising, until it stopped over the place where the child was.

¹⁰When they saw that the star had stopped, they were overwhelmed with joy.

¹¹On entering the house, they saw the child with Mary his mother; and they knelt down and paid him homage. Then, opening their treasure chests, they offered him gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh.

¹²And having been warned in a dream not to return to Herod, they left for their own country by another road.

¹³Now after they had left, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, “Get up, take the child and his mother, and flee to Egypt, and remain there until I tell you; for Herod is about to search for the child, to destroy him.”

¹⁴Then Joseph got up, took the child and his mother by night, and went to Egypt,

¹⁵and remained there until the death of Herod. This was to fulfill what had been spoken by the Lord through the prophet, “Out of Egypt I have called my son.”

¹⁶When Herod saw that he had been tricked by the wise men, he was infuriated, and he sent and killed all the children in and around Bethlehem who were two years old or under, according to the time that he had learned from the wise men.

¹⁷Then was fulfilled what had been spoken through the prophet Jeremiah:

¹⁸“A voice was heard in Ramah, wailing and loud lamentation, Rachel weeping for her children; she refused to be consoled, because they are no more.”

¹⁹When Herod died, an angel of the Lord suddenly appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt and said,

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

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

²²But when he heard that Archelaus was ruling over Judea in place of his father Herod, he was afraid to go there. And after being warned in a dream, he went away to the district of Galilee.

²³There he made his home in a town called Nazareth, so that what had been spoken through the prophets might be fulfilled, “He will be called a Nazorean.”

¹When the people saw that Moses delayed to come down from the mountain, the people gathered around Aaron, and said to him, “Come, make gods for us, who shall go before us; as for this Moses, the man who brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we do not know what has become of him.”

²Aaron said to them, “Take off the gold rings that are on the ears of your wives, your sons, and your daughters, and bring them to me.”

³So all the people took off the gold rings from their ears, and brought them to Aaron.

⁴He took the gold from them, formed it in a mold, and cast an image of a calf; and they said, “These are your gods, O Israel, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt!”

⁵When Aaron saw this, he built an altar before it; and Aaron made proclamation and said, “Tomorrow shall be a festival to the LORD.”

⁶They rose early the next day, and offered burnt offerings and brought sacrifices of well-being; and the people sat down to eat and drink, and rose up to revel.

⁷The LORD said to Moses, “Go down at once! Your people, whom you brought up out of the land of Egypt, have acted perversely;

⁸they have been quick to turn aside from the way that I commanded them; they have cast for themselves an image of a calf, and have worshiped it and sacrificed to it, and said, ‘These are your gods, O Israel, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt!’”

⁹The LORD said to Moses, “I have seen this people, how stiff-necked they are.

¹⁰Now let me alone, so that my wrath may burn hot against them and I may consume them; and of you I will make a great nation.”

¹¹But Moses implored the LORD his God, and said, “O LORD, why does your wrath burn hot against your people, whom you brought out of the land of Egypt with great power and with 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 consume them from the face of the earth’? Turn from your fierce wrath; change your mind and do not bring disaster on your people.

¹³Remember Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, your servants, how you swore to them by your own self, saying to them, ‘I will multiply your descendants like the stars of heaven, and all this land that I have promised I will give to your descendants, and they shall inherit it forever.’”

¹⁴And the LORD changed his mind about the disaster that he planned to bring on his people.

¹⁵Then Moses turned and went down from the mountain, carrying the two tablets of the covenant in his hands, tablets that were written on both sides, written on the front and on the back.

¹⁶The tablets were the work of God, and the writing was the writing of God, engraved upon the tablets.

¹⁷When Joshua heard the noise of the people as they shouted, he said to Moses, “There is a noise of war in the camp.”

¹⁸But he said, “It is not the sound made by victors, or the sound made by losers; it is the sound of revelers that I hear.”

¹⁹As soon as he came near the camp and saw the calf and the dancing, Moses’ anger burned hot, and he threw the tablets from his hands and broke them at the foot of the mountain.

²⁰He took the calf that they had made, burned it with fire, ground it to powder, scattered it on the water, and made the Israelites drink it.

²¹Moses said to Aaron, “What did this people do to you that you have brought so great a sin upon them?”

²²And Aaron said, “Do not let the anger of my lord burn hot; you know the people, that they are bent on evil.

²³They said to me, ‘Make us gods, who shall go before us; as for this Moses, the man who brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we do not know what has become of him.’

²⁴So I said to them, ‘Whoever has gold, take it off’; so they gave it to me, and I threw it into the fire, and out came this calf!”

²⁵When Moses saw that the people were running wild (for Aaron had let them run wild, to the derision of their enemies),

²⁶then Moses stood in the gate of the camp, and said, “Who is on the LORD’s side? Come to me!” And all the sons of Levi gathered around him.

²⁷He said to them, “Thus says the LORD, the God of Israel, ‘Put your sword on your side, each of you! Go back and forth from gate to gate throughout the camp, and each of you kill your brother, your friend, and your neighbor.’”

²⁸The sons of Levi did as Moses commanded, and about three thousand of the people fell on that day.

²⁹Moses said, “Today you have ordained yourselves for the service of the LORD, each one at the cost of a son or a brother, and so have brought a blessing on yourselves this day.”

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

³¹So Moses returned to the LORD and said, “Alas, this people has sinned a great sin; they have made for themselves gods of gold.

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

³³But the LORD said to Moses, “Whoever has sinned against me I will blot out of my book.

³⁴But now go, lead the people to the place about which I have spoken to you; see, my angel shall go in front of you. Nevertheless, when the day comes for punishment, I will punish them for their sin.”

³⁵Then the LORD sent a plague on the people, because they made the calf — the one that Aaron made.

¹Are we beginning to commend ourselves again? Surely we do not need, as some do, letters of recommendation to you or from you, do we?

²You yourselves are our letter, written on our hearts, to be known and read by all;

³and you show that you are a letter of Christ, prepared by us, written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of human hearts.

⁴Such is the confidence that we have through Christ toward God.

⁵Not that we are competent of ourselves to claim anything as coming from us; our competence is from God,

⁶who has made us competent to be ministers of a new covenant, not of letter but of spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life.

⁷Now if the ministry of death, chiseled in letters on stone tablets, came in glory so that the people of Israel could not gaze at Moses’ face because of the glory of his face, a glory now set aside,

⁸how much more will the ministry of the Spirit come in glory?

⁹For if there was glory in the ministry of condemnation, much more does the ministry of justification abound in glory!

¹⁰Indeed, what once had glory has lost its glory because of the greater glory;

¹¹for if what was set aside came through glory, much more has the permanent come in glory!

¹²Since, then, we have such a hope, we act with great boldness,

¹³not like Moses, who put a veil over his face to keep the people of Israel from gazing at the end of the glory that was being set aside.

¹⁴But their minds were hardened. Indeed, to this very day, when they hear the reading of the old covenant, that same veil is still there, since only in Christ is it set aside.

¹⁵Indeed, to this very day whenever Moses is read, a veil lies over their minds;

¹⁶but when one turns to the Lord, the veil is removed.

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

¹⁸And all of us, with unveiled faces, seeing the glory of the Lord as though reflected in a mirror, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another; for this comes from the Lord, the Spirit.

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

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

³I urge you, as I did when I was on my way to Macedonia, to remain in Ephesus so that you may instruct certain people not to teach any different doctrine,

⁴and not to occupy themselves with myths and endless genealogies that promote speculations rather than the divine training that is known by faith.

⁵But the aim of such instruction is love that comes from a pure heart, a good conscience, and sincere faith.

⁶Some people have deviated from these and turned to meaningless talk,

⁷desiring to be teachers of the law, without understanding either what they are saying or the things about which they make assertions.

⁸Now we know that the law is good, if one uses it legitimately.

⁹This means understanding that the law is laid down not for the innocent but for the lawless and disobedient, for the godless and sinful, for the unholy and profane, for those who kill their father or mother, for murderers,

¹⁰fornicators, sodomites, slave traders, liars, perjurers, and whatever else is contrary to the sound teaching

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

¹²I am grateful to Christ Jesus our Lord, who has strengthened me, because he judged me faithful and appointed me to his service,

¹³even though I was formerly a blasphemer, a persecutor, and a man of violence. But I received mercy because I had acted ignorantly in unbelief,

¹⁴and the grace of our Lord overflowed for me with the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus.

¹⁵The saying is sure and worthy of full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners — of whom I am the foremost.

¹⁶But for that very reason I received mercy, so that in me, as the foremost, Jesus Christ might display the utmost patience, making me an example to those who would come to believe in him for eternal life.

¹⁷To the King of the ages, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory forever and ever. Amen.

¹⁸I am giving you these instructions, Timothy, my child, in accordance with the prophecies made earlier about you, so that by following them you may fight the good fight,

¹⁹having faith and a good conscience. By rejecting conscience, certain persons have suffered shipwreck in the faith;

²⁰among them are Hymenaeus and Alexander, whom I have turned over to Satan, so that they may learn not to blaspheme.

¹Then Job answered:

²“Listen carefully to my words, and let this be your consolation.

³Bear with me, and I will speak; then after I have spoken, mock on.

⁴As for me, is my complaint addressed to mortals? Why should I not be impatient?

⁵Look at me, and be appalled, and lay your hand upon your mouth.

⁶When I think of it I am dismayed, and shuddering seizes my flesh.

⁷Why do the wicked live on, reach old age, and grow mighty in power?

⁸Their children are established in their presence, and their offspring before their eyes.

⁹Their houses are safe from fear, and no rod of God is upon them.

¹⁰Their bull breeds without fail; their cow calves and never miscarries.

¹¹They send out their little ones like a flock, and their children dance around.

¹²They sing to the tambourine and the lyre, and rejoice to the sound of the pipe.

¹³They spend their days in prosperity, and in peace they go down to Sheol.

¹⁴They say to God, ‘Leave us alone! We do not desire to know your ways.

¹⁵What is the Almighty, that we should serve him? And what profit do we get if we pray to him?’

¹⁶Is not their prosperity indeed their own achievement? The plans of the wicked are repugnant to me.

¹⁷“How often is the lamp of the wicked put out? How often does calamity come upon them? How often does God distribute pains in his anger?

¹⁸How often are they like straw before the wind, and like chaff that the storm carries away?

¹⁹You say, ‘God stores up their iniquity for their children.’ Let it be paid back to them, so that they may know it.

²⁰Let their own eyes see their destruction, and let them drink of the wrath of the Almighty.

²¹For what do they care for their household after them, when the number of their months is cut off?

²²Will any teach God knowledge, seeing that he judges those that are on high?

²³One dies in full prosperity, being wholly at ease and secure,

²⁴his loins full of milk and the marrow of his bones moist.

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

²⁶They lie down alike in the dust, and the worms cover them.

²⁷“Oh, I know your thoughts, and your schemes to wrong me.

²⁸For you say, ‘Where is the house of the prince? Where is the tent in which the wicked lived?’

²⁹Have you not asked those who travel the roads, and do you not accept their testimony,

³⁰that the wicked are spared in the day of calamity, and are rescued in the day of wrath?

³¹Who declares their way to their face, and who repays them for what they have done?

³²When they are carried to the grave, a watch is kept over their tomb.

³³The clods of the valley are sweet to them; everyone will follow after, and those who went before are innumerable.

³⁴How then will you comfort me with empty nothings? There is nothing left of your answers but falsehood.”

¹Happy are those whose way is blameless, who walk in the law of the LORD.

²Happy are those who keep his decrees, who seek him with their whole heart,

³who also do no wrong, but walk in his ways.

⁴You have commanded your precepts to be kept diligently.

⁵O that my ways may be steadfast in keeping your statutes!

⁶Then I shall not be put to shame, having my eyes fixed on all your commandments.

⁷I will praise you with an upright heart, when I learn your righteous ordinances.

⁸I will observe your statutes; do not utterly forsake me.

⁹How can young people keep their way pure? By guarding it according to your word.

¹⁰With my whole heart I seek you; do not let me stray from your commandments.

¹¹I treasure your word in my heart, so that I may not sin against you.

¹²Blessed are you, O LORD; teach me your statutes.

¹³With my lips I declare all the ordinances of your mouth.

¹⁴I delight in the way of your decrees as much as in all riches.

¹⁵I will meditate on your precepts, and fix my eyes on your ways.

¹⁶I will delight in your statutes; I will not forget your word.

¹⁷Deal bountifully with your servant, so that I may live and observe your word.

¹⁸Open my eyes, so that I may behold wondrous things out of your law.

¹⁹I live as an alien in the land; do not hide your commandments from me.

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

²¹You rebuke the insolent, accursed ones, who wander from your commandments;

²²take away from me their scorn and contempt, for I have kept your decrees.

²³Even though princes sit plotting against me, your servant will meditate on your statutes.

²⁴Your decrees are my delight, they are my counselors.

²⁵My soul clings to the dust; revive me according to your word.

²⁶When I told of my ways, you answered me; teach me your statutes.

²⁷Make me understand the way of your precepts, and I will meditate on your wondrous works.

²⁸My soul melts away for sorrow; strengthen me according to your word.

²⁹Put false ways far from me; and graciously teach me your law.

³⁰I have chosen the way of faithfulness; I set your ordinances before me.

³¹I cling to your decrees, O LORD; let me not be put to shame.

³²I run the way of your commandments, for you enlarge my understanding.

³³Teach me, O LORD, the way of your statutes, and I will observe it to the end.

³⁴Give me understanding, that I may keep your law and observe it with my whole heart.

³⁵Lead me in the path of your commandments, for I delight in it.

³⁶Turn my heart to your decrees, and not to selfish gain.

³⁷Turn my eyes from looking at vanities; give me life in your ways.

³⁸Confirm to your servant your promise, which is for those who fear you.

³⁹Turn away the disgrace that I dread, for your ordinances are good.

⁴⁰See, I have longed for your precepts; in your righteousness give me life.

⁴¹Let your steadfast love come to me, O LORD, your salvation according to your promise.

⁴²Then I shall have an answer for those who taunt me, for I trust in your word.

⁴³Do not take the word of truth utterly out of my mouth, for my hope is in your ordinances.

⁴⁴I will keep your law continually, forever and ever.

⁴⁵I shall walk at liberty, for I have sought your precepts.

⁴⁶I will also speak of your decrees before kings, and shall not be put to shame;

⁴⁷I find my delight in your commandments, because I love them.

⁴⁸I revere your commandments, which I love, and I will meditate on your statutes.

⁴⁹Remember your word to your servant, in which you have made me hope.

⁵⁰This is my comfort in my distress, that your promise gives me life.

⁵¹The arrogant utterly deride me, but I do not turn away from your law.

⁵²When I think of your ordinances from of old, I take comfort, O LORD.

⁵³Hot indignation seizes me because of the wicked, those who forsake your law.

⁵⁴Your statutes have been my songs wherever I make my home.

⁵⁵I remember your name in the night, O LORD, and keep your law.

⁵⁶This blessing has fallen to me, for I have kept your precepts.

⁵⁷The LORD is my portion; I promise to keep your words.

⁵⁸I implore your favor with all my heart; be gracious to me according to your promise.

⁵⁹When I think of your ways, I turn my feet to your decrees;

⁶⁰I hurry and do not delay to keep your commandments.

⁶¹Though the cords of the wicked ensnare me, I do not forget your law.

⁶²At midnight I rise to praise you, because of your righteous ordinances.

⁶³I am a companion of all who fear you, of those who keep your precepts.

⁶⁴The earth, O LORD, is full of your steadfast love; teach me your statutes.

⁶⁵You have dealt well with your servant, O LORD, according to your word.

⁶⁶Teach me good judgment and knowledge, for I believe in your commandments.

⁶⁷Before I was humbled I went astray, but now I keep your word.

⁶⁸You are good and do good; teach me your statutes.

⁶⁹The arrogant smear me with lies, but with my whole heart I keep your precepts.

⁷⁰Their hearts are fat and gross, but I delight in your law.

⁷¹It is good for me that I was humbled, so that I might learn your statutes.

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

⁷³Your hands have made and fashioned me; give me understanding that I may learn your commandments.

⁷⁴Those who fear you shall see me and rejoice, because I have hoped in your word.

⁷⁵I know, O LORD, that your judgments are right, and that in faithfulness you have humbled me.

⁷⁶Let your steadfast love become my comfort according to your promise to your servant.

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

⁷⁸Let the arrogant be put to shame, because they have subverted me with guile; as for me, I will meditate on your precepts.

⁷⁹Let those who fear you turn to me, so that they may know your decrees.

⁸⁰May my heart be blameless in your statutes, so that I may not be put to shame.

⁸¹My soul languishes for your salvation; I hope in your word.

⁸²My eyes fail with watching for your promise; I ask, “When will you comfort me?”

⁸³For I have become like a wineskin in the smoke, yet I have not forgotten your statutes.

⁸⁴How long must your servant endure? When will you judge those who persecute me?

⁸⁵The arrogant have dug pitfalls for me; they flout your law.

⁸⁶All your commandments are enduring; I am persecuted without cause; help me!

⁸⁷They have almost made an end of me on earth; but I have not forsaken your precepts.

⁸⁸In your steadfast love spare my life, so that I may keep the decrees of your mouth.

⁸⁹The LORD exists forever; your word is firmly fixed in heaven.

⁹⁰Your faithfulness endures to all generations; you have established the earth, and it stands fast.

⁹¹By your appointment they stand today, for all things are your servants.

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

⁹³I will never forget your precepts, for by them you have given me life.

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

⁹⁵The wicked lie in wait to destroy me, but I consider your decrees.

⁹⁶I have seen a limit to all perfection, but your commandment is exceedingly broad.

⁹⁷Oh, how I love your law! It is my meditation all day long.

⁹⁸Your commandment makes me wiser than my enemies, for it is always with me.

⁹⁹I have more understanding than all my teachers, for your decrees are my meditation.

¹⁰⁰I understand more than the aged, for I keep your precepts.

¹⁰¹I hold back my feet from every evil way, in order to keep your word.

¹⁰²I do not turn away from your ordinances, for you have taught me.

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

¹⁰⁴Through your precepts I get understanding; therefore I hate every false way.

¹⁰⁵Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.

¹⁰⁶I have sworn an oath and confirmed it, to observe your righteous ordinances.

¹⁰⁷I am severely afflicted; give me life, O LORD, according to your word.

¹⁰⁸Accept my offerings of praise, O LORD, and teach me your ordinances.

¹⁰⁹I hold my life in my hand continually, but I do not forget your law.

¹¹⁰The wicked have laid a snare for me, but I do not stray from your precepts.

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

¹¹²I incline my heart to perform your statutes forever, to the end.

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

¹¹⁴You are my hiding place and my shield; I hope in your word.

¹¹⁵Go away from me, you evildoers, that I may keep the commandments of my God.

¹¹⁶Uphold me according to your promise, that I may live, and let me not be put to shame in my hope.

¹¹⁷Hold me up, that I may be safe and have regard for your statutes continually.

¹¹⁸You spurn all who go astray from your statutes; for their cunning is in vain.

¹¹⁹All the wicked of the earth you count as dross; therefore I love your decrees.

¹²⁰My flesh trembles for fear of you, and I am afraid of your judgments.

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

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

¹²³My eyes fail from watching for your salvation, and for the fulfillment of your righteous promise.

¹²⁴Deal with your servant according to your steadfast love, and teach me your statutes.

¹²⁵I am your servant; give me understanding, so that I may know your decrees.

¹²⁶It is time for the LORD to act, for your law has been broken.

¹²⁷Truly I love your commandments more than gold, more than fine gold.

¹²⁸Truly I direct my steps by all your precepts; I hate every false way.

¹²⁹Your decrees are wonderful; therefore my soul keeps them.

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

¹³¹With open mouth I pant, because I long for your commandments.

¹³²Turn to me and be gracious to me, as is your custom toward those who love your name.

¹³³Keep my steps steady according to your promise, and never let iniquity have dominion over me.

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

¹³⁵Make your face shine upon your servant, and teach me your statutes.

¹³⁶My eyes shed streams of tears because your law is not kept.

¹³⁷You are righteous, O LORD, and your judgments are right.

¹³⁸You have appointed your decrees in righteousness and in all faithfulness.

¹³⁹My zeal consumes me because my foes forget your words.

¹⁴⁰Your promise is well tried, and your servant loves it.

¹⁴¹I am small and despised, yet I do not forget your precepts.

¹⁴²Your righteousness is an everlasting righteousness, and your law is the truth.

¹⁴³Trouble and anguish have come upon me, but your commandments are my delight.

¹⁴⁴Your decrees are righteous forever; give me understanding that I may live.

¹⁴⁵With my whole heart I cry; answer me, O LORD. I will keep your statutes.

¹⁴⁶I cry to you; save me, that I may observe your decrees.

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

¹⁴⁸My eyes are awake before each watch of the night, that I may meditate on your promise.

¹⁴⁹In your steadfast love hear my voice; O LORD, in your justice preserve my life.

¹⁵⁰Those who persecute me with evil purpose draw near; they are far from your law.

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

¹⁵²Long ago I learned from your decrees that you have established them forever.

¹⁵³Look on my misery and rescue me, for I do not forget your law.

¹⁵⁴Plead my cause and redeem me; give me life according to your promise.

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

¹⁵⁶Great is your mercy, O LORD; give me life according to your justice.

¹⁵⁷Many are my persecutors and my adversaries, yet I do not swerve from your decrees.

¹⁵⁸I look at the faithless with disgust, because they do not keep your commands.

¹⁵⁹Consider how I love your precepts; preserve my life according to your steadfast love.

¹⁶⁰The sum of your word is truth; and every one of your righteous ordinances endures forever.

¹⁶¹Princes persecute me without cause, but my heart stands in awe of your words.

¹⁶²I rejoice at your word like one who finds great spoil.

¹⁶³I hate and abhor falsehood, but I love your law.

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

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

¹⁶⁶I hope for your salvation, O LORD, and I fulfill your commandments.

¹⁶⁷My soul keeps your decrees; I love them exceedingly.

¹⁶⁸I keep your precepts and decrees, for all my ways are before you.

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

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

¹⁷¹My lips will pour forth praise, because you teach me your statutes.

¹⁷²My tongue will sing of your promise, for all your commandments are right.

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

¹⁷⁴I long for your salvation, O LORD, and your law is my delight.

¹⁷⁵Let me live that I may praise you, and let your ordinances help me.

¹⁷⁶I have gone astray like a lost sheep; seek out your servant, for I do not forget your commandments.

¹The king’s heart is a stream of water in the hand of the LORD; he turns it wherever he will.

²All deeds are right in the sight of the doer, but the LORD weighs the heart.

³To do righteousness and justice is more acceptable to the LORD than sacrifice.

⁴Haughty eyes and a proud heart — the lamp of the wicked — are sin.

⁵The plans of the diligent lead surely to abundance, but everyone who is hasty comes only to want.

⁶The getting of treasures by a lying tongue is a fleeting vapor and a snare of death.

⁷The violence of the wicked will sweep them away, because they refuse to do what is just.

⁸The way of the guilty is crooked, but the conduct of the pure is right.

⁹It is better to live in a corner of the housetop than in a house shared with a contentious wife.

¹⁰The souls of the wicked desire evil; their neighbors find no mercy in their eyes.

¹¹When a scoffer is punished, the simple become wiser; when the wise are instructed, they increase in knowledge.

¹²The Righteous One observes the house of the wicked; he casts the wicked down to ruin.

¹³If you close your ear to the cry of the poor, you will cry out and not be heard.

¹⁴A gift in secret averts anger; and a concealed bribe in the bosom, strong wrath.

¹⁵When justice is done, it is a joy to the righteous, but dismay to evildoers.

¹⁶Whoever wanders from the way of understanding will rest in the assembly of the dead.

¹⁷Whoever loves pleasure will suffer want; whoever loves wine and oil will not be rich.

¹⁸The wicked is a ransom for the righteous, and the faithless for the upright.

¹⁹It is better to live in a desert land than with a contentious and fretful wife.

²⁰Precious treasure remains in the house of the wise, but the fool devours it.

²¹Whoever pursues righteousness and kindness will find life and honor.

²²One wise person went up against a city of warriors and brought down the stronghold in which they trusted.

²³To watch over mouth and tongue is to keep out of trouble.

²⁴The proud, haughty person, named “Scoffer,” acts with arrogant pride.

²⁵The craving of the lazy person is fatal, for lazy hands refuse to labor.

²⁶All day long the wicked covet, but the righteous give and do not hold back.

²⁷The sacrifice of the wicked is an abomination; how much more when brought with evil intent.

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

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

³⁰No wisdom, no understanding, no counsel, can avail against the LORD.

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

¹Then the LORD spoke to Joshua, saying,

²“Say to the Israelites, ‘Appoint the cities of refuge, of which I spoke to you through Moses,

³so that anyone who kills a person without intent or by mistake may flee there; they shall be for you a refuge from the avenger of blood.

⁴The slayer shall flee to one of these cities and shall stand at the entrance of the gate of the city, and explain the case to the elders of that city; then the fugitive shall be taken into the city, and given a place, and shall remain with them.

⁵And if the avenger of blood is in pursuit, they shall not give up the slayer, because the neighbor was killed by mistake, there having been no enmity between them before.

⁶The slayer shall remain in that city until there is a trial before the congregation, until the death of the one who is high priest at the time: then the slayer may return home, to the town in which the deed was done.’”

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

⁸And beyond the Jordan east of Jericho, they appointed Bezer in the wilderness on the tableland, from the tribe of Reuben, and Ramoth in Gilead, from the tribe of Gad, and Golan in Bashan, from the tribe of Manasseh.

⁹These were the cities designated for all the Israelites, and for the aliens residing among them, that anyone who killed a person without intent could flee there, so as not to die by the hand of the avenger of blood, until there was a trial before the congregation.

¹An oracle concerning Egypt. See, the LORD is riding on a swift cloud and comes to Egypt; the idols of Egypt will tremble at his presence, and the heart of the Egyptians will melt within them.

²I will stir up Egyptians against Egyptians, and they will fight, one against the other, neighbor against neighbor, city against city, kingdom against kingdom;

³the spirit of the Egyptians within them will be emptied out, and I will confound their plans; they will consult the idols and the spirits of the dead and the ghosts and the familiar spirits;

⁴I will deliver the Egyptians into the hand of a hard master; a fierce king will rule over them, says the Sovereign, the LORD of hosts.

⁵The waters of the Nile will be dried up, and the river will be parched and dry;

⁶its canals will become foul, and the branches of Egypt’s Nile will diminish and dry up, reeds and rushes will rot away.

⁷There will be bare places by the Nile, on the brink of the Nile; and all that is sown by the Nile will dry up, be driven away, and be no more.

⁸Those who fish will mourn; all who cast hooks in the Nile will lament, and those who spread nets on the water will languish.

⁹The workers in flax will be in despair, and the carders and those at the loom will grow pale.

¹⁰Its weavers will be dismayed, and all who work for wages will be grieved.

¹¹The princes of Zoan are utterly foolish; the wise counselors of Pharaoh give stupid counsel. How can you say to Pharaoh, “I am one of the sages, a descendant of ancient kings”?

¹²Where now are your sages? Let them tell you and make known what the LORD of hosts has planned against Egypt.

¹³The princes of Zoan have become fools, and the princes of Memphis are deluded; those who are the cornerstones of its tribes have led Egypt astray.

¹⁴The LORD has poured into them a spirit of confusion; and they have made Egypt stagger in all its doings as a drunkard staggers around in vomit.

¹⁵Neither head nor tail, palm branch or reed, will be able to do anything for Egypt.

¹⁶On that day the Egyptians will be like women, and tremble with fear before the hand that the LORD of hosts raises against them.

¹⁷And the land of Judah will become a terror to the Egyptians; everyone to whom it is mentioned will fear because of the plan that the LORD of hosts is planning against them.

¹⁸On that day there will be five cities in the land of Egypt that speak the language of Canaan and swear allegiance to the LORD of hosts. One of these will be called the City of the Sun.

¹⁹On that day there will be an altar to the LORD in the center of the land of Egypt, and a pillar to the LORD at its border.

²⁰It will be a sign and a witness to the LORD of hosts in the land of Egypt; when they cry to the LORD because of oppressors, he will send them a savior, and will defend and deliver them.

²¹The LORD will make himself known to the Egyptians; and the Egyptians will know the LORD on that day, and will worship with sacrifice and burnt offering, and they will make vows to the LORD and perform them.

²²The LORD will strike Egypt, striking and healing; they will return to the LORD, and he will listen to their supplications and heal them.

²³On that day there will be a highway from Egypt to Assyria, and the Assyrian will come into Egypt, and the Egyptian into Assyria, and the Egyptians will worship with the Assyrians.

²⁴On that day Israel will be the third with Egypt and Assyria, a blessing in the midst of the earth,

²⁵whom the LORD of hosts has blessed, saying, “Blessed be Egypt my people, and Assyria the work of my hands, and Israel my heritage.”

¹After Paul and Silas had passed through Amphipolis and Apollonia, they came to Thessalonica, where there was a synagogue of the Jews.

²And Paul went in, as was his custom, and on three sabbath days argued with them from the scriptures,

³explaining and proving that it was necessary for the Messiah to suffer and to rise from the dead, and saying, “This is the Messiah, Jesus whom I am proclaiming to you.”

⁴Some of them were persuaded and joined Paul and Silas, as did a great many of the devout Greeks and not a few of the leading women.

⁵But the Jews became jealous, and with the help of some ruffians in the marketplaces they formed a mob and set the city in an uproar. While they were searching for Paul and Silas to bring them out to the assembly, they attacked Jason’s house.

⁶When they could not find them, they dragged Jason and some believers before the city authorities, shouting, “These people who have been turning the world upside down have come here also,

⁷and Jason has entertained them as guests. They are all acting contrary to the decrees of the emperor, saying that there is another king named Jesus.”

⁸The people and the city officials were disturbed when they heard this,

⁹and after they had taken bail from Jason and the others, they let them go.

¹⁰That very night the believers sent Paul and Silas off to Beroea; and when they arrived, they went to the Jewish synagogue.

¹¹These Jews were more receptive than those in Thessalonica, for they welcomed the message very eagerly and examined the scriptures every day to see whether these things were so.

¹²Many of them therefore believed, including not a few Greek women and men of high standing.

¹³But when the Jews of Thessalonica learned that the word of God had been proclaimed by Paul in Beroea as well, they came there too, to stir up and incite the crowds.

¹⁴Then the believers immediately sent Paul away to the coast, but Silas and Timothy remained behind.

¹⁵Those who conducted Paul brought him as far as Athens; and after receiving instructions to have Silas and Timothy join him as soon as possible, they left him.

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

¹⁷So he argued in the synagogue with the Jews and the devout persons, and also in the marketplace every day with those who happened to be there.

¹⁸Also some Epicurean and Stoic philosophers debated with him. Some said, “What does this babbler want to say?” Others said, “He seems to be a proclaimer of foreign divinities.” (This was because he was telling the good news about Jesus and the resurrection.)

¹⁹So they took him and brought him to the Areopagus and asked him, “May we know what this new teaching is that you are presenting?

²⁰It sounds rather strange to us, so we would like to know what it means.”

²¹Now all the Athenians and the foreigners living there would spend their time in nothing but telling or hearing something new.

²²Then Paul stood in front of the Areopagus and said, “Athenians, I see how extremely religious you are in every way.

²³For as I went through the city and looked carefully at the objects of your worship, I found among them an altar with the inscription, ‘To an unknown god.’ What therefore you worship as unknown, this I proclaim to you.

²⁴The God who made the world and everything in it, he who is Lord of heaven and earth, does not live in shrines made by human hands,

²⁵nor is he served by human hands, as though he needed anything, since he himself gives to all mortals life and breath and all things.

²⁶From one ancestor he made all nations to inhabit the whole earth, and he allotted the times of their existence and the boundaries of the places where they would live,

²⁷so that they would search for God and perhaps grope for him and find him — though indeed he is not far from each one of us.

²⁸For ‘In him we live and move and have our being’; as even some of your own poets have said, ‘For we too are his offspring.’

²⁹Since we are God’s offspring, we ought not to think that the deity is like gold, or silver, or stone, an image formed by the art and imagination of mortals.

³⁰While God has overlooked the times of human ignorance, now he commands all people everywhere to repent,

³¹because he has fixed a day on which he will have the world judged in righteousness by a man whom he has appointed, and of this he has given assurance to all by raising him from the dead.”

³²When they heard of the resurrection of the dead, some scoffed; but others said, “We will hear you again about this.”

³³At that point Paul left them.

³⁴But some of them joined him and became believers, including Dionysius the Areopagite and a woman named Damaris, and others with them.