Professor Horner’s Reading Plan

¹“Be careful not to practice your righteousness in front of others to be seen by them. Otherwise, you have no reward with your Father in heaven.

²So whenever you give to the poor, don’t sound a trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and on the streets, to be applauded by people. Truly I tell you, they have their reward.

³But when you give to the poor, don’t let your left hand know what your right hand is doing,

⁴so that your giving may be in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.

⁵“Whenever you pray, you must not be like the hypocrites, because they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by people. Truly I tell you, they have their reward.

⁶But when you pray, go into your private room, shut your door, and pray to your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.

⁷When you pray, don’t babble like the Gentiles, since they imagine they’ll be heard for their many words.

⁸Don’t be like them, because your Father knows the things you need before you ask him.

⁹“Therefore, you should pray like this: Our Father in heaven, your name be honored as holy.

¹⁰Your kingdom come. Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.

¹¹Give us today our daily bread.

¹²And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.

¹³And do not bring us into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.

¹⁴“For if you forgive others their offenses, your heavenly Father will forgive you as well.

¹⁵But if you don’t forgive others, your Father will not forgive your offenses.

¹⁶“Whenever you fast, don’t be gloomy like the hypocrites. For they make their faces unattractive so that their fasting is obvious to people. Truly I tell you, they have their reward.

¹⁷But when you fast, put oil on your head and wash your face,

¹⁸so that your fasting isn’t obvious to others but to your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.

¹⁹“Don’t store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal.

²⁰But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys, and where thieves don’t break in and steal.

²¹For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

²²“The eye is the lamp of the body. If your eye is healthy, your whole body will be full of light.

²³But if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. So if the light within you is darkness, how deep is that darkness!

²⁴“No one can serve two masters, since either he will hate one and love the other, or he will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.

²⁵“Therefore I tell you: Don’t worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Isn’t life more than food and the body more than clothing?

²⁶Consider the birds of the sky: They don’t sow or reap or gather into barns, yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Aren’t you worth more than they?

²⁷Can any of you add one moment to his life-span by worrying?

²⁸And why do you worry about clothes? Observe how the wildflowers of the field grow: They don’t labor or spin thread.

²⁹Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was adorned like one of these.

³⁰If that’s how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and thrown into the furnace tomorrow, won’t he do much more for you — you of little faith?

³¹So don’t worry, saying, ‘What will we eat? ’ or ‘What will we drink? ’ or ‘What will we wear?’

³²For the Gentiles eagerly seek all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them.

³³But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be provided for you.

³⁴Therefore don’t worry about tomorrow, because tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.

¹Bezalel, Oholiab, and all the skilled people are to work based on everything the LORD has commanded. The LORD has given them wisdom and understanding to know how to do all the work of constructing the sanctuary.”

²So Moses summoned Bezalel, Oholiab, and every skilled person in whose heart the LORD had placed wisdom, all whose hearts moved them, to come to the work and do it.

³They took from Moses’s presence all the contributions that the Israelites had brought for the task of making the sanctuary. Meanwhile, the people continued to bring freewill offerings morning after morning.

⁴Then all the artisans who were doing all the work for the sanctuary came one by one from the work they were doing

⁵and said to Moses, “The people are bringing more than is needed for the construction of the work the LORD commanded to be done.”

⁶After Moses gave an order, they sent a proclamation throughout the camp: “Let no man or woman make anything else as an offering for the sanctuary.” So the people stopped.

⁷The materials were sufficient for them to do all the work. There was more than enough.

⁸All the skilled artisans among those doing the work made the tabernacle with ten curtains. Bezalel made them of finely spun linen, as well as blue, purple, and scarlet yarn, with a design of cherubim worked into them.

⁹Each curtain was forty-two feet long and six feet wide; all the curtains had the same measurements.

¹⁰He joined five of the curtains to each other, and the other five curtains he joined to each other.

¹¹He made loops of blue yarn on the edge of the last curtain in the first set and did the same on the edge of the outermost curtain in the second set.

¹²He made fifty loops on the one curtain and fifty loops on the edge of the curtain in the second set, so that the loops lined up with each other.

¹³He also made fifty gold clasps and joined the curtains to each other, so that the tabernacle became a single unit.

¹⁴He made curtains of goat hair for a tent over the tabernacle; he made eleven of them.

¹⁵Each curtain was forty-five feet long and six feet wide. All eleven curtains had the same measurements.

¹⁶He joined five of the curtains together, and the other six together.

¹⁷He made fifty loops on the edge of the outermost curtain in the first set and fifty loops on the edge of the corresponding curtain in the second set.

¹⁸He made fifty bronze clasps to join the tent together as a single unit.

¹⁹He also made a covering for the tent from ram skins dyed red and a covering of fine leather on top of it.

²⁰He made upright supports of acacia wood for the tabernacle.

²¹Each support was fifteen feet long and twenty-seven inches wide.

²²Each support had two tenons for joining one to another. He did the same for all the supports of the tabernacle.

²³He made supports for the tabernacle as follows: twenty for the south side,

²⁴and he made forty silver bases to put under the twenty supports, two bases under the first support for its two tenons, and two bases under each of the following supports for their two tenons;

²⁵for the second side of the tabernacle, the north side, he made twenty supports,

²⁶with their forty silver bases, two bases under the first support and two bases under each of the following ones;

²⁷and for the back of the tabernacle, on the west side, he made six supports.

²⁸He also made two additional supports for the two back corners of the tabernacle.

²⁹They were paired at the bottom and joined together at the top in a single ring. This is what he did with both of them for the two corners.

³⁰So there were eight supports with their sixteen silver bases, two bases under each one.

³¹He made five crossbars of acacia wood for the supports on one side of the tabernacle,

³²five crossbars for the supports on the other side of the tabernacle, and five crossbars for those at the back of the tabernacle on the west.

³³He made the central crossbar run through the middle of the supports from one end to the other.

³⁴He overlaid them with gold and made their rings out of gold as holders for the crossbars. He also overlaid the crossbars with gold.

³⁵Then he made the curtain with blue, purple, and scarlet yarn, and finely spun linen. He made it with a design of cherubim worked into it.

³⁶He made four pillars of acacia wood for it and overlaid them with gold; their hooks were of gold. And he cast four silver bases for the pillars.

³⁷He made a screen embroidered with blue, purple, and scarlet yarn, and finely spun linen for the entrance to the tent,

³⁸together with its five pillars and their hooks. He overlaid the tops of the pillars and their bands with gold, but their five bases were bronze.

¹So then, dear friends, since we have these promises, let us cleanse ourselves from every impurity of the flesh and spirit, bringing holiness to completion in the fear of God.

²Make room for us in your hearts. We have wronged no one, corrupted no one, taken advantage of no one.

³I don’t say this to condemn you, since I have already said that you are in our hearts, to die together and to live together.

⁴I am very frank with you; I have great pride in you. I am filled with encouragement; I am overflowing with joy in all our afflictions.

⁵In fact, when we came into Macedonia, we had no rest. Instead, we were troubled in every way: conflicts on the outside, fears within.

⁶But God, who comforts the downcast, comforted us by the arrival of Titus,

⁷and not only by his arrival but also by the comfort he received from you. He told us about your deep longing, your sorrow, and your zeal for me, so that I rejoiced even more.

⁸For even if I grieved you with my letter, I don’t regret it. And if I regretted it — since I saw that the letter grieved you, yet only for a while —

⁹I now rejoice, not because you were grieved, but because your grief led to repentance. For you were grieved as God willed, so that you didn’t experience any loss from us.

¹⁰For godly grief produces a repentance that leads to salvation without regret, but worldly grief produces death.

¹¹For consider how much diligence this very thing — this grieving as God wills — has produced in you: what a desire to clear yourselves, what indignation, what fear, what deep longing, what zeal, what justice! In every way you showed yourselves to be pure in this matter.

¹²So even though I wrote to you, it was not because of the one who did wrong, or because of the one who was wronged, but in order that your devotion to us might be made plain to you in the sight of God.

¹³For this reason we have been comforted. In addition to our own comfort, we rejoiced even more over the joy Titus had, because his spirit was refreshed by all of you.

¹⁴For if I have made any boast to him about you, I have not been disappointed; but as I have spoken everything to you in truth, so our boasting to Titus has also turned out to be the truth.

¹⁵And his affection toward you is even greater as he remembers the obedience of all of you, and how you received him with fear and trembling.

¹⁶I rejoice that I have complete confidence in you.

¹Don’t rebuke an older man, but exhort him as a father, younger men as brothers,

²older women as mothers, and the younger women as sisters with all purity.

³Support widows who are genuinely in need.

⁴But if any widow has children or grandchildren, let them learn to practice godliness toward their own family first and to repay their parents, for this pleases God.

⁵The widow who is truly in need and left all alone has put her hope in God and continues night and day in her petitions and prayers;

⁶however, she who is self-indulgent is dead even while she lives.

⁷Command this also, so that they will be above reproach.

⁸But if anyone does not provide for his own family, especially for his own household, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever.

⁹No widow is to be enrolled on the list for support unless she is at least sixty years old, has been the wife of one husband,

¹⁰and is well known for good works  — that is, if she has brought up children, shown hospitality, washed the saints’ feet, helped the afflicted, and devoted herself to every good work.

¹¹But refuse to enroll younger widows, for when they are drawn away from Christ by desire, they want to marry

¹²and will therefore receive condemnation because they have renounced their original pledge.

¹³At the same time, they also learn to be idle, going from house to house; they are not only idle, but are also gossips and busybodies, saying things they shouldn’t say.

¹⁴Therefore, I want younger women to marry, have children, manage their households, and give the adversary no opportunity to accuse us.

¹⁵For some have already turned away to follow Satan.

¹⁶If any believing woman has widows in her family, let her help them. Let the church not be burdened, so that it can help widows in genuine need.

¹⁷The elders who are good leaders are to be considered worthy of double honor, especially those who work hard at preaching and teaching.

¹⁸For the Scripture says: Do not muzzle an ox while it is treading out the grain, and the worker is worthy of his wages.

¹⁹Don’t accept an accusation against an elder unless it is supported by two or three witnesses.

²⁰Publicly rebuke those who sin, so that the rest will be afraid.

²¹I solemnly charge you before God and Christ Jesus and the elect angels to observe these things without prejudice, doing nothing out of favoritism.

²²Don’t be too quick to appoint anyone as an elder, and don’t share in the sins of others. Keep yourself pure.

²³Don’t continue drinking only water, but use a little wine because of your stomach and your frequent illnesses.

²⁴Some people’s sins are obvious, preceding them to judgment, but the sins of others surface later.

²⁵Likewise, good works are obvious, and those that are not obvious cannot remain hidden.

¹Then Bildad the Shuhite replied:

²Dominion and dread belong to him, the one who establishes harmony in his heights.

³Can his troops be numbered? Does his light not shine on everyone?

⁴How can a human be justified before God? How can one born of woman be pure?

⁵If even the moon does not shine and the stars are not pure in his sight,

⁶how much less a human, who is a maggot, a son of man, who is a worm!

¹A song of ascents. [1] I lift my eyes to you, the one enthroned in heaven.

²Like a servant’s eyes on his master’s hand, like a servant girl’s eyes on her mistress’s hand, so our eyes are on the LORD our God until he shows us favor.

³Show us favor, LORD, show us favor, for we’ve had more than enough contempt.

⁴We’ve had more than enough scorn from the arrogant and contempt from the proud.

¹These too are proverbs of Solomon, which the men of King Hezekiah of Judah, copied.

²It is the glory of God to conceal a matter and the glory of kings to investigate a matter.

³As the heavens are high and the earth is deep, so the hearts of kings cannot be investigated.

⁴Remove impurities from silver, and material will be produced for a silversmith.

⁵Remove the wicked from the king’s presence, and his throne will be established in righteousness.

⁶Don’t boast about yourself before the king, and don’t stand in the place of the great;

⁷for it is better for him to say to you, “Come up here!” than to demote you in plain view of a noble.

⁸Don’t take a matter to court hastily. Otherwise, what will you do afterward if your opponent humiliates you?

⁹Make your case with your opponent without revealing another’s secret;

¹⁰otherwise, the one who hears will disgrace you, and you’ll never live it down.

¹¹A word spoken at the right time is like gold apples in silver settings.

¹²A wise correction to a receptive ear is like a gold ring or an ornament of gold.

¹³To those who send him, a trustworthy envoy is like the coolness of snow on a harvest day; he refreshes the life of his masters.

¹⁴The one who boasts about a gift that does not exist is like clouds and wind without rain.

¹⁵A ruler can be persuaded through patience, and a gentle tongue can break a bone.

¹⁶If you find honey, eat only what you need; otherwise, you’ll get sick from it and vomit.

¹⁷Seldom set foot in your neighbor’s house; otherwise, he’ll get sick of you and hate you.

¹⁸A person giving false testimony against his neighbor is like a club, a sword, or a sharp arrow.

¹⁹Trusting an unreliable person in a difficult time is like a rotten tooth or a faltering foot.

²⁰Singing songs to a troubled heart is like taking off clothing on a cold day or like pouring vinegar on soda.

²¹If your enemy is hungry, give him food to eat, and if he is thirsty, give him water to drink;

²²for you will heap burning coals on his head, and the LORD will reward you.

²³The north wind produces rain, and a backbiting tongue, angry looks.

²⁴Better to live on the corner of a roof than to share a house with a nagging wife.

²⁵Good news from a distant land is like cold water to a parched throat.

²⁶A righteous person who yields to the wicked is like a muddied spring or a polluted well.

²⁷It is not good to eat too much honey or to seek glory after glory.

²⁸A person who does not control his temper is like a city whose wall is broken down.

¹Joshua assembled all the tribes of Israel at Shechem and summoned Israel’s elders, leaders, judges, and officers, and they presented themselves before God.

²Joshua said to all the people, “This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: ‘Long ago your ancestors, including Terah, the father of Abraham and Nahor, lived beyond the Euphrates River and worshiped other gods.

³But I took your father Abraham from the region beyond the Euphrates River, led him throughout the land of Canaan, and multiplied his descendants. I gave him Isaac,

⁴and to Isaac I gave Jacob and Esau. I gave the hill country of Seir to Esau as a possession. “‘Jacob and his sons, however, went down to Egypt.

⁵I sent Moses and Aaron, and I defeated Egypt by what I did within it, and afterward I brought you out.

⁶When I brought your fathers out of Egypt and you reached the Red Sea, the Egyptians pursued your fathers with chariots and horsemen as far as the sea.

⁷Your fathers cried out to the LORD, so he put darkness between you and the Egyptians, and brought the sea over them, engulfing them. Your own eyes saw what I did to Egypt. After that, you lived in the wilderness a long time.

⁸“‘Later, I brought you to the land of the Amorites who lived beyond the Jordan. They fought against you, but I handed them over to you. You possessed their land, and I annihilated them before you.

⁹Balak son of Zippor, king of Moab, set out to fight against Israel. He sent for Balaam son of Beor to curse you,

¹⁰but I would not listen to Balaam. Instead, he repeatedly blessed you, and I rescued you from him.

¹¹“‘You then crossed the Jordan and came to Jericho. Jericho’s citizens — as well as the Amorites, Perizzites, Canaanites, Hethites, Girgashites, Hivites, and Jebusites — fought against you, but I handed them over to you.

¹²I sent hornets ahead of you, and they drove out the two Amorite kings before you. It was not by your sword or bow.

¹³I gave you a land you did not labor for, and cities you did not build, though you live in them; you are eating from vineyards and olive groves you did not plant.’

¹⁴“Therefore, fear the LORD and worship him in sincerity and truth. Get rid of the gods your fathers worshiped beyond the Euphrates River and in Egypt, and worship the LORD.

¹⁵But if it doesn’t please you to worship the LORD, choose for yourselves today: Which will you worship — the gods your fathers worshiped beyond the Euphrates River or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you are living? As for me and my family, we will worship the LORD.”

¹⁶The people replied, “We will certainly not abandon the LORD to worship other gods!

¹⁷For the LORD our God brought us and our fathers out of the land of Egypt, out of the place of slavery, and performed these great signs before our eyes. He also protected us all along the way we went and among all the peoples whose lands we traveled through.

¹⁸The LORD drove out before us all the peoples, including the Amorites who lived in the land. We too will worship the LORD, because he is our God.”

¹⁹But Joshua told the people, “You will not be able to worship the LORD, because he is a holy God. He is a jealous God; he will not forgive your transgressions and sins.

²⁰If you abandon the LORD and worship foreign gods, he will turn against you, harm you, and completely destroy you, after he has been good to you.”

²¹“No!” the people answered Joshua. “We will worship the LORD.”

²²Joshua then told the people, “You are witnesses against yourselves that you yourselves have chosen to worship the LORD.” “We are witnesses,” they said.

²³“Then get rid of the foreign gods that are among you and turn your hearts to the LORD, the God of Israel.”

²⁴So the people said to Joshua, “We will worship the LORD our God and obey him.”

²⁵On that day Joshua made a covenant for the people at Shechem and established a statute and ordinance for them.

²⁶Joshua recorded these things in the book of the law of God; he also took a large stone and set it up there under the oak at the sanctuary of the LORD.

²⁷And Joshua said to all the people, “You see this stone — it will be a witness against us, for it has heard all the words the LORD said to us, and it will be a witness against you, so that you will not deny your God.”

²⁸Then Joshua sent the people away, each to his own inheritance.

²⁹After these things, the LORD’s servant, Joshua son of Nun, died at the age of 110.

³⁰They buried him in his allotted territory at Timnath-serah, in the hill country of Ephraim north of Mount Gaash.

³¹Israel worshiped the LORD throughout Joshua’s lifetime and during the lifetimes of the elders who outlived Joshua and who had experienced all the works the LORD had done for Israel.

³²Joseph’s bones, which the Israelites had brought up from Egypt, were buried at Shechem in the parcel of land Jacob had purchased from the sons of Hamor, Shechem’s father, for a hundred pieces of silver. It was an inheritance for Joseph’s descendants.

³³And Eleazar son of Aaron died, and they buried him at Gibeah, which had been given to his son Phinehas in the hill country of Ephraim.

¹A pronouncement concerning Tyre: Wail, ships of Tarshish, for your haven has been destroyed. Word has reached them from the land of Cyprus.

²Mourn, inhabitants of the coastland, you merchants of Sidon; your agents have crossed the sea

³over deep water. Tyre’s revenue was the grain from Shihor — the harvest of the Nile. She was the merchant among the nations.

⁴Be ashamed, Sidon, the stronghold of the sea, for the sea has spoken: “I have not been in labor or given birth. I have not raised young men or brought up young women.”

⁵When the news reaches Egypt, they will be in anguish over the news about Tyre.

⁶Cross over to Tarshish; wail, inhabitants of the coastland!

⁷Is this your jubilant city, whose origin was in ancient times, whose feet have taken her to reside far away?

⁸Who planned this against Tyre, the bestower of crowns, whose traders are princes, whose merchants are the honored ones of the earth?

⁹The LORD of Armies planned it, to desecrate all its glorious beauty, to disgrace all the honored ones of the earth.

¹⁰Overflow your land like the Nile, daughter of Tarshish; there is no longer anything to restrain you.

¹¹He stretched out his hand over the sea; he made kingdoms tremble. The LORD has commanded that the Canaanite fortresses be destroyed.

¹²He said, “You will not celebrate anymore, ravished young woman, daughter of Sidon. Get up and cross over to Cyprus  — even there you will have no rest!”

¹³Look at the land of the Chaldeans — a people who no longer exist. Assyria destined it for desert creatures. They set up their siege towers and stripped its palaces. They made it a ruin.

¹⁴Wail, ships of Tarshish, because your fortress is destroyed!

¹⁵On that day Tyre will be forgotten for seventy years — the life span of one king. At the end of seventy years, what the song says about the prostitute will happen to Tyre:

¹⁶Pick up your lyre, stroll through the city, you forgotten prostitute. Play skillfully, sing many a song so that you will be remembered.

¹⁷And at the end of the seventy years, the LORD will restore Tyre and she will go back into business, prostituting herself with all the kingdoms of the world throughout the earth.

¹⁸But her profits and wages will be dedicated to the LORD. They will not be stored or saved, for her profit will go to those who live in the LORD’s presence, to provide them with ample food and sacred clothing.

¹After we tore ourselves away from them, we set sail straight for Cos, the next day to Rhodes, and from there to Patara.

²Finding a ship crossing over to Phoenicia, we boarded and set sail.

³After we sighted Cyprus, passing to the south of it, we sailed on to Syria and arrived at Tyre, since the ship was to unload its cargo there.

⁴We sought out the disciples and stayed there seven days. Through the Spirit they told Paul not to go to Jerusalem.

⁵When our time had come to an end, we left to continue our journey, while all of them, with their wives and children, accompanied us out of the city. After kneeling down on the beach to pray,

⁶we said farewell to one another and boarded the ship, and they returned home.

⁷When we completed our voyage from Tyre, we reached Ptolemais, where we greeted the brothers and sisters and stayed with them for a day.

⁸The next day we left and came to Caesarea, where we entered the house of Philip the evangelist, who was one of the Seven, and stayed with him.

⁹This man had four virgin daughters who prophesied.

¹⁰After we had been there for several days, a prophet named Agabus came down from Judea.

¹¹He came to us, took Paul’s belt, tied his own feet and hands, and said, “This is what the Holy Spirit says: ‘In this way the Jews in Jerusalem will bind the man who owns this belt and deliver him over to the Gentiles.’”

¹²When we heard this, both we and the local people pleaded with him not to go up to Jerusalem.

¹³Then Paul replied, “What are you doing, weeping and breaking my heart? For I am ready not only to be bound but also to die in Jerusalem for the name of the Lord Jesus.”

¹⁴Since he would not be persuaded, we said no more except, “The Lord’s will be done.”

¹⁵After this we got ready and went up to Jerusalem.

¹⁶Some of the disciples from Caesarea also went with us and brought us to Mnason of Cyprus, an early disciple, with whom we were to stay.

¹⁷When we reached Jerusalem, the brothers and sisters welcomed us warmly.

¹⁸The following day Paul went in with us to James, and all the elders were present.

¹⁹After greeting them, he reported in detail what God had done among the Gentiles through his ministry.

²⁰When they heard it, they glorified God and said, “You see, brother, how many thousands of Jews there are who have believed, and they are all zealous for the law.

²¹But they have been informed about you — that you are teaching all the Jews who are among the Gentiles to abandon Moses, telling them not to circumcise their children or to live according to our customs.

²²So what is to be done? They will certainly hear that you’ve come.

²³Therefore do what we tell you: We have four men who have made a vow.

²⁴Take these men, purify yourself along with them, and pay for them to get their heads shaved. Then everyone will know that what they were told about you amounts to nothing, but that you yourself are also careful about observing the law.

²⁵With regard to the Gentiles who have believed, we have written a letter containing our decision that they should keep themselves from food sacrificed to idols, from blood, from what is strangled, and from sexual immorality.”

²⁶So the next day, Paul took the men, having purified himself along with them, and entered the temple, announcing the completion of the purification days when the offering would be made for each of them.

²⁷When the seven days were nearly over, some Jews from the province of Asia saw him in the temple, stirred up the whole crowd, and seized him,

²⁸shouting, “Fellow Israelites, help! This is the man who teaches everyone everywhere against our people, our law, and this place. What’s more, he also brought Greeks into the temple and has defiled this holy place.”

²⁹For they had previously seen Trophimus the Ephesian in the city with him, and they supposed that Paul had brought him into the temple.

³⁰The whole city was stirred up, and the people rushed together. They seized Paul, dragged him out of the temple, and at once the gates were shut.

³¹As they were trying to kill him, word went up to the commander of the regiment that all Jerusalem was in chaos.

³²Taking along soldiers and centurions, he immediately ran down to them. Seeing the commander and the soldiers, they stopped beating Paul.

³³Then the commander approached, took him into custody, and ordered him to be bound with two chains. He asked who he was and what he had done.

³⁴Some in the crowd were shouting one thing and some another. Since he was not able to get reliable information because of the uproar, he ordered him to be taken into the barracks.

³⁵When Paul got to the steps, he had to be carried by the soldiers because of the violence of the crowd,

³⁶for the mass of people followed, yelling, “Get rid of him!”

³⁷As he was about to be brought into the barracks, Paul said to the commander, “Am I allowed to say something to you?” He replied, “You know how to speak Greek?

³⁸Aren’t you the Egyptian who started a revolt some time ago and led four thousand men of the Assassins into the wilderness?”

³⁹Paul said, “I am a Jewish man from Tarsus of Cilicia, a citizen of an important city. Now I ask you, let me speak to the people.”

⁴⁰After he had given permission, Paul stood on the steps and motioned with his hand to the people. When there was a great hush, he addressed them in Aramaic: