Professor Horner’s Reading Plan

¹Now when Jesus saw the crowds, He went up on the mountain; and after He sat down, His disciples came to Him.

²And He opened His mouth and began to teach them, saying,

³“ Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

⁴“Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.

⁵“Blessed are the gentle, for they will inherit the earth.

⁶“Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be satisfied.

⁷“Blessed are the merciful, for they will receive mercy.

⁸“Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.

⁹“Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called sons of God.

¹⁰“Blessed are those who have been persecuted for the sake of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

¹¹“Blessed are you when people insult you and persecute you, and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of Me.

¹²Rejoice and be glad, for your reward in heaven is great; for in this same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.

¹³“You are the salt of the earth; but if the salt has become tasteless, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled underfoot by people.

¹⁴“You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden;

¹⁵nor do people light a lamp and put it under abasket, but on the lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house.

¹⁶Your light must shine before people in such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven.

¹⁷“Do not presume that I came to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I did not come to abolish, but to fulfill.

¹⁸For truly I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, notthe smallest letter or stroke of a letter shall pass from the Law, until all is accomplished!

¹⁹Therefore, whoever nullifies one of the least of these commandments, and teachesothers to do the same, shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but whoeverkeeps and teaches them, he shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven.

²⁰“For I say to you that unless your righteousness far surpasses that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven.

²¹“You have heard that the ancients were told, ‘YOU SHALL NOT MURDER,’ and ‘Whoever commits murder shall be answerable to the court.’

²²But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother shall be answerable to the court; and whoever says to his brother, ‘You good-for-nothing,’ shall be answerable tothe supreme court; and whoever says, ‘You fool,’ shall be guilty enough to go into thefiery hell.

²³Therefore, if you are presenting youroffering at the altar, and there you remember that your brother has something against you,

²⁴leave youroffering there before the altar and go; first be reconciled to your brother, and then come and present youroffering.

²⁵Come to good terms with your accuser quickly, while you are with him on the way to court, so that your accuser will not hand you over to the judge, and the judge to the officer, and you will not be thrown into prison.

²⁶Truly I say to you, you will not come out of there until you have paid up the lastquadrans.

²⁷“You have heard that it was said, ‘YOU SHALL NOT COMMIT ADULTERY’;

²⁸but I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart.

²⁹Now if your right eye is causing you to sin, tear it out and throw it away from you; for it is better for you to lose one of the parts of your body,than for your whole body to be thrown intohell.

³⁰And if your right hand is causing you to sin, cut it off and throw it away from you; for it is better for youto lose one of the parts of your body,than for your whole body to go intohell.

³¹“Now it was said, ‘WHOEVER SENDS HIS WIFE AWAY IS TO GIVE HER A CERTIFICATE OF DIVORCE’;

³²but I say to you that everyone whodivorces his wife, except for the reason of sexual immorality, makes her commit adultery; and whoever marries adivorced woman commits adultery.

³³“Again, you have heard that the ancients were told, ‘ YOU SHALL NOT MAKE FALSE VOWS, BUT SHALL FULFILL YOUR VOWS TO THE LORD.’

³⁴But I say to you, take no oath at all, neither by heaven, for it is the throne of God,

³⁵nor by the earth, for it is the footstool of His feet, norby Jerusalem, for it is THE CITY OF THE GREAT KING.

³⁶Nor shall you take an oath by your head, for you cannot make a single hair white or black.

³⁷But make sure your statement is, ‘Yes, yes’ or ‘No, no’; anything beyond these isof evil origin.

³⁸“You have heard that it was said, ‘EYE FOR EYE, and TOOTH FOR TOOTH.’

³⁹But I say to you, do not show opposition against an evil person; but whoever slaps you on your right cheek, turn the other toward him also.

⁴⁰And if anyone wants to sue you and take yourtunic, let him have yourcloak also.

⁴¹Whoeverforces you to go one mile, go with him two.

⁴²Give to him who asks of you, and do not turn away from him who wants to borrow from you.

⁴³“You have heard that it was said, ‘YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR and hate your enemy.’

⁴⁴But I say to you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you,

⁴⁵so that you may prove yourselves to be sons of your Father who is in heaven; for He causes His sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous.

⁴⁶For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Even the tax collectors, do they not do the same?

⁴⁷And if you greet only your brothers and sisters, what more are you doing than others? Even the Gentiles, do they not do the same?

⁴⁸Therefore you shall be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.

¹Then Moses assembled all the congregation of the sons of Israel, and said to them, “These are the things that the LORD has commanded you to do:

²“For six days work may be done, but on the seventh day you shall have a holy day, a Sabbath of complete rest to the LORD; whoever does any work on it shall be put to death.

³You shall not kindle a fire in any of your dwellings on the Sabbath day.”

⁴Moses spoke to all the congregation of the sons of Israel, saying, “This is the thing which the LORD has commanded, saying,

⁵‘Take from among you a contribution to the LORD; whoever is of a willing heart is to bring it as the LORD’S contribution: gold, silver, and bronze,

⁶and violet, purple, and scarlet material, fine linen, goats’ hair,

⁷and rams’ skins dyed red, and fine leather, and acacia wood,

⁸and oil for lighting, and spices for the anointing oil, and for the fragrant incense,

⁹and onyx stones and setting stones for the ephod and for the breastpiece.

¹⁰‘Have every skillful person among you come and make all that the LORD has commanded:

¹¹the tabernacle, its tent and its covering, its hooks and its boards, its bars, its pillars, and its bases;

¹²the ark and its poles, the atoning cover, and the covering curtain;

¹³the table and its poles, and all its utensils, and the bread of the Presence;

¹⁴the lampstand also for the light and its utensils and its lamps, and the oil for the light;

¹⁵and the altar of incense and its poles, and the anointing oil and the fragrant incense, and the curtain for the doorway at the entrance of the tabernacle;

¹⁶the altar of burnt offering with its bronze grating, its poles, and all its utensils, the basin and its stand;

¹⁷the hangings of the courtyard, its pillars and its bases, and the curtain for the gate of the courtyard;

¹⁸the pegs of the tabernacle and the pegs of the courtyard and their ropes;

¹⁹the woven garments for ministering in the Holy Place, the holy garments for Aaron the priest and the garments of his sons, to serve as priests.’ ”

²⁰Then all the congregation of the sons of Israel departed from Moses’ presence.

²¹And everyone whose heart stirred him and everyone whose spirit moved him came and brought the LORD’S contribution for the work of the tent of meeting and for all its service, and for the holy garments.

²²Then all whose hearts moved them, both men and women, came and brought brooches and earrings and signet rings and bracelets, all articles of gold; so did everyone who presented an offering of gold to the LORD.

²³Everyone who was in possession of violet, purple, or scarlet material or fine linen or goats’ hair, or rams’ skins dyed red or fine leather, brought them.

²⁴Everyone who could make a contribution of silver and bronze brought the LORD’S contribution; and everyone who was in possession of acacia wood for any work of the service brought it.

²⁵And all the skilled women spun with their hands, and brought what they had spun, in violet, purple, and scarlet material, and in fine linen.

²⁶And all the women whose heart stirred with a skill spun the goats’ hair.

²⁷The rulers, moreover, brought the onyx stones and the stones for setting for the ephod and for the breastpiece;

²⁸and the spice and the oil for the light and for the anointing oil, and for the fragrant incense.

²⁹The Israelites, all the men and women, whose heart moved them to bring material for all the work, which the LORD had commanded through Moses to be done, brought a voluntary offering to the LORD.

³⁰Then Moses said to the sons of Israel, “See, the LORD has called by name Bezalel the son of Uri, the son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah.

³¹And He has filled him with the Spirit of God, in wisdom, in understanding, in knowledge, and in all craftsmanship;

³²to create designs for working in gold, in silver, and in bronze,

³³and in the cutting of stones for settings and in the carving of wood, so as to perform in every inventive work.

³⁴He also has put in his heart to teach, both he and Oholiab, the son of Ahisamach, of the tribe of Dan.

³⁵He has filled them with skill to perform every work of an engraver, of a designer, and of an embroiderer, in violet, purple, and in scarlet material, and in fine linen, and of a weaver, as performers of every work and makers of designs.

¹And working together with Him, we also urge you not to receive the grace of God in vain—

²for He says, “AT A FAVORABLE TIME I LISTENED TO YOU, AND ON A DAY OF SALVATION I HELPED YOU.” Behold, now is “A FAVORABLE TIME,” behold, now is “A DAY OF SALVATION”—

³giving no reason for taking offense in anything, so that the ministry will not be discredited,

⁴but in everything commending ourselves as servants of God, in much endurance, in afflictions, in hardships, in difficulties,

⁵in beatings, in imprisonments, in mob attacks, in labors, in sleeplessness, in hunger,

⁶in purity, in knowledge, in patience, in kindness, in the Holy Spirit, in genuine love,

⁷in the word of truth, and in the power of God; by the weapons of righteousness for the right hand and the left,

⁸by glory and dishonor, by evil report and good report; regarded as deceivers and yet true;

⁹as unknown and yet well known, as dying and yet behold, we are alive; as punished and yet not put to death,

¹⁰as sorrowful yet always rejoicing, as poor yet making many rich, as having nothing and yet possessing all things.

¹¹Our mouth has spoken freely to you, you Corinthians, our heart is opened wide.

¹²You are not restrained by us, but you are restrained in your own affections.

¹³Now in the same way in exchange—I am speaking as to children—open wide your hearts to us, you as well.

¹⁴Do not be mismatched with unbelievers; for what do righteousness and lawlessness share together, or what does light have in common with darkness?

¹⁵Or what harmony does Christ have with Belial, or what does a believer share with an unbeliever?

¹⁶Or what agreement does the temple of God have with idols? For we are the temple of the living God; just as God said, “I WILL DWELL AMONG THEM AND WALK AMONG THEM; AND I WILL BE THEIR GOD, AND THEY SHALL BE MY PEOPLE.

¹⁷Therefore, COME OUT FROM THEIR MIDST AND BE SEPARATE,” says the Lord. “AND DO NOT TOUCH WHAT IS UNCLEAN; And I will welcome you.

¹⁸And I will be a father to you, And you shall be sons and daughters to Me,” Says the Lord Almighty.

¹But the Spirit explicitly says that in later times some will fall away from the faith, paying attention to deceitful spirits and teachings of demons,

²by means of the hypocrisy of liars seared in their own conscience as with a branding iron,

³who forbid marriage and advocate abstaining from foods which God has created to be gratefully shared in by those who believe and know the truth.

⁴For everything created by God is good, and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with gratitude;

⁵for it is sanctified by means of the word of God and prayer.

⁶In pointing out these things to the brothers and sisters, you will be a good servant of Christ Jesus, constantly nourished on the words of the faith and of the good doctrine which you have been following.

⁷But stay away from worthless stories that are typical of old women. Rather, discipline yourself for the purpose of godliness;

⁸for bodily training is just slightly beneficial, but godliness is beneficial for all things, since it holds promise for the present life and also for the life to come.

⁹It is a trustworthy statement deserving full acceptance.

¹⁰For it is for this we labor and strive, because we have set our hope on the living God, who is the Savior of all mankind, especially of believers.

¹¹Prescribe and teach these things.

¹²Let no one look down on your youthfulness, but rather in speech, conduct, love, faith, and purity, show yourself an example of those who believe.

¹³Until I come, give your attention to the public reading, to exhortation, and teaching.

¹⁴Do not neglect the spiritual gift within you, which was granted to you through words of prophecy with the laying on of hands by the council of elders.

¹⁵Take pains with these things; be absorbed in them, so that your progress will be evident to all.

¹⁶Pay close attention to yourself and to the teaching; persevere in these things, for as you do this you will save both yourself and those who hear you.

¹“Why are times not stored up by the Almighty, And why do those who know Him not see His days?

²People remove landmarks; They seize and devour flocks.

³They drive away the donkeys of orphans; They seize the widow’s ox as a pledge.

⁴They push the needy aside from the road; The poor of the land have to hide themselves together.

⁵Behold, like wild donkeys in the wilderness They go out scavenging for food in their activity, As bread for their children in the desert.

⁶They harvest their feed in the field And glean the vineyard of the wicked.

⁷They spend the night naked, without clothing, And have no covering against the cold.

⁸They are wet from the mountain rains, And they hug the rock for lack of a shelter.

⁹Others snatch an orphan from the breast, And they seize it as a pledge against the poor.

¹⁰The poor move about naked without clothing, And they carry sheaves, while going hungry.

¹¹Within the walls they produce oil; They tread wine presses but go thirsty.

¹²From the city people groan, And the souls of the wounded cry for help; Yet God does not pay attention to the offensiveness.

¹³“Others have been with those who rebel against the light; They do not want to know its ways Nor stay in its paths.

¹⁴The murderer arises at dawn; He kills the poor and the needy, And at night he is like a thief.

¹⁵The eye of the adulterer watches for twilight, Saying, ‘No eye will see me.’ And he disguises his face.

¹⁶In the darkness they dig into houses, They shut themselves up by day; They do not know the light.

¹⁷For the morning is the same to him as thick darkness, For he is familiar with the terrors of thick darkness.

¹⁸“They are insignificant on the surface of the water; Their plot of land on the earth is cursed. They do not turn toward the vineyards.

¹⁹Dryness and heat snatch away the snow waters, As Sheol snatches those who have sinned.

²⁰A mother will forget him; The maggot feeds sweetly until he is no longer remembered. And injustice will be broken like a tree.

²¹He wrongs the infertile woman, And does no good for the widow.

²²But He drags off the mighty by His power; He rises, but no one has assurance of life.

²³He provides them with security, and they are supported; And His eyes are on their ways.

²⁴They are exalted a little while, then they are gone; Moreover, they are brought low, and like everything they are gathered up; Like the heads of grain they wither.

²⁵Now if it is not so, who can prove me a liar, And make my speech worthless?”

¹I was glad when they said to me, “Let’s go to the house of the LORD.”

²Our feet are standing Within your gates, Jerusalem,

³Jerusalem, that has been built As a city that is firmly joined together;

⁴To which the tribes go up, the tribes of the LORD— An ordinance for Israel— To give thanks to the name of the LORD.

⁵For thrones were set there for judgment, The thrones of the house of David.

⁶Pray for the peace of Jerusalem: “May they prosper who love you.

⁷May peace be within your walls, And prosperity within your palaces.”

⁸For the sake of my brothers and my friends, I will now say, “May peace be within you.”

⁹For the sake of the house of the LORD our God, I will seek your good.

¹Do not be envious of evil people, Nor desire to be with them;

²For their minds plot violence, And their lips talk of trouble.

³By wisdom a house is built, And by understanding it is established;

⁴And by knowledge the rooms are filled With all precious and pleasant riches.

⁵A wise man is strong, And a person of knowledge increases power.

⁶For by wise guidance you will wage war, And in an abundance of counselors there is victory.

⁷Wisdom is too exalted for a fool, He does not open his mouth at the gate.

⁸One who plans to do evil, People will call a schemer.

⁹The devising of foolishness is sin, And the scoffer is an abomination to humanity.

¹⁰If you show yourself lacking courage on the day of distress, Your strength is meager.

¹¹Rescue those who are being taken away to death, And those who are staggering to the slaughter, Oh hold them back!

¹²If you say, “See, we did not know this,” Does He who weighs the hearts not consider it? And does He who watches over your soul not know it? And will He not repay a person according to his work?

¹³My son, eat honey, for it is good; Yes, the honey from the comb is sweet to your taste;

¹⁴Know that wisdom is the same for your soul; If you find it, then there will be a future, And your hope will not be cut off.

¹⁵Do not lie in ambush, you wicked person, against the home of the righteous; Do not destroy his resting place;

¹⁶For a righteous person falls seven times and rises again, But the wicked stumble in time of disaster.

¹⁷Do not rejoice when your enemy falls, And do not let your heart rejoice when he stumbles,

¹⁸Otherwise, the LORD will see and be displeased, And turn His anger away from him.

¹⁹Do not get upset because of evildoers Or be envious of the wicked;

²⁰For there will be no future for the evil person; The lamp of the wicked will be put out.

²¹My son, fear the LORD and the king; Do not get involved with those of high rank,

²²For their disaster will rise suddenly, And who knows the ruin that can come from both of them?

²³These also are sayings of the wise: To show partiality in judgment is not good.

²⁴One who says to the wicked, “You are righteous,” Peoples will curse him, nations will scold him;

²⁵But for those who rebuke the wicked there will be delight, And a good blessing will come upon them.

²⁶One who gives a right answer Kisses the lips.

²⁷Prepare your work outside, And make it ready for yourself in the field; Afterward, then, build your house.

²⁸Do not be a witness against your neighbor for no reason, And do not deceive with your lips.

²⁹Do not say, “I shall do the same to him as he has done to me; I will repay the person according to his work.”

³⁰I passed by the field of a lazy one, And by the vineyard of a person lacking sense,

³¹And behold, it was completely overgrown with weeds; Its surface was covered with weeds, And its stone wall was broken down.

³²When I saw, I reflected upon it; I looked, and received instruction.

³³“A little sleep, a little slumber, A little folding of the hands to rest,”

³⁴Then your poverty will come like a drifter, And your need like an armed man.

¹Now it came about after many days, when the LORD had given rest to Israel from all their enemies on every side, and Joshua was old, advanced in years,

²that Joshua called for all Israel, for their elders, their heads, their judges, and their officers, and said to them, “I am old, advanced in years.

³And you have seen all that the LORD your God has done to all these nations because of you, for the LORD your God is He who has been fighting for you.

⁴See, I have apportioned to you these nations which remain as an inheritance for your tribes, with all the nations which I have eliminated, from the Jordan even to the Great Sea toward the west.

⁵And the LORD your God, He will thrust them away from you and drive them from you; and you will take possession of their land, just as the LORD your God promised you.

⁶Be very determined, then, to keep and do everything that is written in the Book of the Law of Moses, so that you will not turn aside from it to the right or to the left,

⁷so that you will not associate with these nations, these which remain with you, or mention the name of their gods, or make anyone swear by them, or serve them, or bow down to them.

⁸But you are to cling to the LORD your God, as you have done to this day.

⁹For the LORD has driven out great and mighty nations from before you; and as for you, no one has stood against you to this day.

¹⁰One of your men puts to flight a thousand, for the LORD your God is He who fights for you, just as He promised you.

¹¹So take great care for yourselves that you love the LORD your God.

¹²For if you ever go back and cling to the rest of these nations, these which remain with you, and intermarry with them, so that you associate with them and they with you,

¹³know with certainty that the LORD your God will not continue to drive these nations out from before you; but they will be a snare and a trap to you, and a whip on your sides and thorns in your eyes, until you perish from this good land which the LORD your God has given you.

¹⁴“Now behold, today I am going the way of all the earth, and you know in all your hearts and in all your souls that not one word of all the good words which the LORD your God spoke concerning you has failed; they all have been fulfilled for you, not one of them has failed.

¹⁵But it will come about that just as all the good words which the LORD your God spoke to you have come upon you, so the LORD will bring upon you all the warnings, until He has eliminated you from this good land which the LORD your God has given you.

¹⁶When you violate the covenant of the LORD your God, which He commanded you, and you go and serve other gods and bow down to them, then the anger of the LORD will burn against you, and you will perish quickly from the good land which He has given you.”

¹The pronouncement concerning the valley of vision: What is the matter with you now, that you have all gone up to the housetops?

²You who were full of noise, You tumultuous town, you jubilant city; Your dead were not killed with the sword, Nor did they die in battle.

³All your rulers have fled together, And have been captured without the bow; All of you who were found were taken captive together, Though they had fled far away.

⁴Therefore I say, “Look away from me, Let me weep bitterly, Do not try to comfort me concerning the destruction of the daughter of my people.”

⁵For the Lord GOD of armies has a day of panic, subjugation, and confusion In the valley of vision, A breaking down of walls And a crying to the mountain.

⁶Elam picked up the quiver, With the chariots, infantry, and horsemen; And Kir uncovered the shield.

⁷Then your choicest valleys were full of chariots, And the horsemen took positions at the gate.

⁸And He removed the defense of Judah. On that day you depended on the weapons of the house of the forest,

⁹And you saw that the breaches In the wall of the city of David were many; And you collected the waters of the lower pool.

¹⁰Then you counted the houses of Jerusalem And tore down houses to fortify the wall.

¹¹And you made a reservoir between the two walls For the waters of the old pool. But you did not depend on Him who made it, Nor did you take into consideration Him who planned it long ago.

¹²Therefore on that day the Lord GOD of armies called you to weeping, to wailing, To shaving the head, and to wearing sackcloth.

¹³Instead, there is joy and jubilation, Killing of cattle and slaughtering of sheep, Eating of meat and drinking of wine: “Let’s eat and drink, for tomorrow we may die.”

¹⁴But the LORD of armies revealed Himself to me: “Certainly this wrongdoing will not be forgiven you Until you die,” says the Lord GOD of armies.

¹⁵This is what the Lord GOD of armies says: “Come, go to this steward, To Shebna who is in charge of the royal household,

¹⁶‘What right do you have here, And whom do you have here, That you have cut out a tomb for yourself here, You who cut out a tomb on the height, You who carve a resting place for yourself in the rock?

¹⁷Behold, the LORD is about to hurl you violently, you strong man. And He is about to grasp you firmly

¹⁸And wrap you up tightly like a ball, To be driven into a vast country; There you will die, And there your splendid chariots will be, You shame of your master’s house!’

¹⁹I will depose you from your office, And I will pull you down from your position.

²⁰Then it will come about on that day, That I will summon My servant Eliakim the son of Hilkiah,

²¹And I will clothe him with your tunic And tie your sash securely around him. I will hand your authority over to him, And he will become a father to the inhabitants of Jerusalem and to the house of Judah.

²²Then I will put the key of the house of David on his shoulder; When he opens, no one will shut, When he shuts, no one will open.

²³I will drive him like a peg in a firm place, And he will become a throne of glory to his father’s house.

²⁴So they will hang on him all the glory of his father’s house, the offspring and the descendants, all the least of vessels, from bowls to all the jars.

²⁵On that day,” declares the LORD of armies, “the peg driven into a firm place will give way; it will even break off and fall, and the load that is hanging on it will be cut off, for the LORD has spoken.”

¹After the uproar had ceased, Paul sent for the disciples, and when he had encouraged them and taken his leave of them, he left to go to Macedonia.

²When he had gone through those regions and had given them much encouragement, he came to Greece.

³And there he spent three months, and when a plot was formed against him by the Jews as he was about to set sail for Syria, he decided to return through Macedonia.

⁴And he was accompanied by Sopater of Berea, the son of Pyrrhus, and by Aristarchus and Secundus of the Thessalonians, and Gaius of Derbe, and Timothy, and Tychicus and Trophimus of Asia.

⁵Now these had gone on ahead and were waiting for us at Troas.

⁶We sailed from Philippi after the days of Unleavened Bread, and reached them at Troas within five days; and we stayed there for seven days.

⁷On the first day of the week, when we were gathered together to break bread, Paul began talking to them, intending to leave the next day, and he prolonged his message until midnight.

⁸There were many lamps in the upstairs room where we were gathered together.

⁹And there was a young man named Eutychus sitting on the window sill, sinking into a deep sleep; and as Paul kept on talking, Eutychus was overcome by sleep and fell down from the third floor, and was picked up dead.

¹⁰But Paul went down and fell upon him, and after embracing him, he said, “Do not be troubled, for he is still alive.”

¹¹When Paul had gone back up and had broken the bread and eaten, he talked with them a long while until daybreak, and then left.

¹²They took away the boy alive, and were greatly comforted.

¹³But we went ahead to the ship and set sail for Assos, intending from there to take Paul on board; for that was what he had arranged, intending himself to go by land.

¹⁴And when he met us at Assos, we took him on board and came to Mitylene.

¹⁵Sailing from there, we arrived the following day opposite Chios; and the next day we crossed over to Samos, and on the following day we came to Miletus.

¹⁶For Paul had decided to sail past Ephesus so that he would not have to lose time in Asia; for he was hurrying, if it might be possible for him to be in Jerusalem the day of Pentecost.

¹⁷From Miletus he sent word to Ephesus and called to himself the elders of the church.

¹⁸And when they came to him, he said to them, “You yourselves know, from the first day that I set foot in Asia, how I was with you the whole time,

¹⁹serving the Lord with all humility and with tears and trials which came upon me through the plots of the Jews;

²⁰how I did not shrink from declaring to you anything that was beneficial, and teaching you publicly and from house to house,

²¹solemnly testifying to both Jews and Greeks of repentance toward God and faith in our Lord Jesus Christ.

²²And now, behold, bound by the Spirit, I am on my way to Jerusalem, not knowing what will happen to me there,

²³except that the Holy Spirit solemnly testifies to me in every city, saying that chains and afflictions await me.

²⁴But I do not consider my life of any account as dear to myself, so that I may finish my course and the ministry which I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify solemnly of the gospel of God’s grace.

²⁵“And now behold, I know that all of you, among whom I went about preaching the kingdom, will no longer see my face.

²⁶Therefore, I testify to you this day that I am innocent of the blood of all people.

²⁷For I did not shrink from declaring to you the whole purpose of God.

²⁸Be on guard for yourselves and for all the flock, among which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to shepherd the church of God which He purchased with His own blood.

²⁹I know that after my departure savage wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock;

³⁰and from among your own selves men will arise, speaking perverse things to draw away the disciples after them.

³¹Therefore, be on the alert, remembering that night and day for a period of three years I did not cease to admonish each one with tears.

³²And now I entrust you to God and to the word of His grace, which is able to build you up and to give you the inheritance among all those who are sanctified.

³³I have coveted no one’s silver or gold or clothes.

³⁴You yourselves know that these hands served my own needs and the men who were with me.

³⁵In everything I showed you that by working hard in this way you must help the weak and remember the words of the Lord Jesus, that He Himself said, ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’  ”

³⁶When he had said these things, he knelt down and prayed with them all.

³⁷And they all began to weep aloud and embraced Paul, and repeatedly kissed him,

³⁸grieving especially over the word which he had spoken, that they would not see his face again. And they were accompanying him to the ship.