Professor Horner’s Reading Plan

¹“Take care not to practice your righteousness in the sight of people, to be noticed by them; otherwise you have no reward with your Father who is in heaven.

²“So when you give to the poor, do not sound a trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and on the streets, so that they will be praised by people. Truly I say to you, they have their reward in full.

³But when yougive to the poor, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing,

⁴so that your charitable giving will be in secret; and your Father who sees what is done in secret will reward you.

⁵“And when you pray, you are not to be like the hypocrites; for they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and on the street corners so that they will be seen by people. Truly I say to you, they have their reward in full.

⁶But as for you, when you pray, go into your inner room, close your door, and pray to your Father who is in secret; and your Father who sees what is done in secret will reward you.

⁷“And when you are praying, do not use thoughtless repetition as the Gentiles do, for they think that they will be heard because of their many words.

⁸So do not be like them; for your Father knows what you need before you ask Him.

⁹“Pray, then, in this way: ‘Our Father, who is in heaven, Hallowed be Your name.

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

¹¹Give us this day our daily bread.

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

¹³And do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from evil. ’

¹⁴For if you forgive other people for their offenses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you.

¹⁵But if you do not forgive other people, then your Father will not forgive youroffenses.

¹⁶“Now whenever you fast, do not make a gloomy face as the hypocrites do, for they distort their faces so that they will be noticed by people when they are fasting. Truly I say to you, they have their reward in full.

¹⁷But as for you, when you fast,anoint your head and wash your face,

¹⁸so that your fasting will not be noticed by people but by your Father who is in secret; and your Father who sees what is done in secret will reward you.

¹⁹“Do not 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 do not break in or steal;

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

²²“The eye is the lamp of the body; so then, if your eye is clear, your whole body will be full of light.

²³But if your eye isbad, your whole body will be full of darkness. So if the light that is in you is darkness, how great is the darkness!

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

²⁵“For this reason I say to you, do not be worried about your life, as to what you will eat or what you will drink; nor for your body, as to what you will put on. Is life not more than food, and the body more than clothing?

²⁶Look at the birds of the sky, that they do not sow, nor reap, nor gather crops into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more important than they?

²⁷And which of you by worrying can add a singleday to hislife’s span?

²⁸And why are you worried about clothing? Notice how the lilies of the field grow; they do not labor nor do they spin thread for cloth,

²⁹yet I say to you that not even Solomon in all his glory clothed himself like one of these.

³⁰But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which is alive today and tomorrow is thrown into the furnace, will He not much more clothe you? You of little faith!

³¹Do not worry then, saying, ‘What are we to eat?’ or ‘What are we to drink?’ or ‘What are we to wear for clothing?’

³²For the Gentiles eagerly seek all these things; for your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things.

³³Butseek firstHis kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will beprovided to you.

³⁴“So do not worry about tomorrow; for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.

¹“Now Bezalel, Oholiab, and every skillful person in whom the LORD has put skill and understanding to know how to perform all the work in the construction of the sanctuary, shall perform in accordance with everything that the LORD has commanded.”

²Then Moses called Bezalel, Oholiab, and every skillful person in whom the LORD had put skill, everyone whose heart stirred him, to come to the work to perform it.

³They received from Moses every contribution which the sons of Israel had brought to perform the work in the construction of the sanctuary. And they still continued bringing to him voluntary offerings every morning.

⁴And all the skillful people who were performing all the work of the sanctuary came, each from the work which they were performing,

⁵and they said to Moses, “The people are bringing much more than enough for the construction work which the LORD commanded us to perform.”

⁶So Moses issued a command, and circulated a proclamation throughout the camp, saying, “No man or woman is to perform work any longer for the contributions of the sanctuary.” So the people were restrained from bringing any more.

⁷For the material they had was sufficient and more than enough for all the work, to perform it.

⁸All the skillful people among those who were performing the work made the tabernacle with ten curtains; of fine twisted linen and violet, purple, and scarlet material, with cherubim, the work of a skilled embroiderer, Bezalel made them.

⁹The length of each curtain was twenty-eight cubits, and the width of each curtain four cubits; all the curtains had the same measurements.

¹⁰He joined five curtains to one another, and the other five curtains he joined to one another.

¹¹And he made loops of violet on the edge of the outermost curtain in the first set; he did likewise on the edge of the curtain that was outermost in the second set.

¹²He made fifty loops in the one curtain, and he made fifty loops on the edge of the curtain that was in the second set; the loops were opposite each other.

¹³He also made fifty clasps of gold, and joined the curtains to one another with the clasps, so that the tabernacle was a unit.

¹⁴Then he made curtains of goats’ hair for a tent over the tabernacle; he made eleven curtains in all.

¹⁵The length of each curtain was thirty cubits, and four cubits was the width of each curtain; the eleven curtains had the same measurements.

¹⁶He joined five curtains by themselves, and the other six curtains by themselves.

¹⁷Moreover, he made fifty loops on the edge of the curtain that was outermost in the first set, and he made fifty loops on the edge of the curtain that was outermost in the second set.

¹⁸He also made fifty clasps of bronze to join the tent together so that it would be a unit.

¹⁹And he made a covering for the tent of rams’ skins dyed red, and a covering of fine leather above.

²⁰Then he made the boards for the tabernacle of acacia wood, standing upright.

²¹Ten cubits was the length of each board, and one and a half cubits the width of each board.

²²There were two tenons for each board, fitted to one another; he did this to all the boards of the tabernacle.

²³So he made the boards for the tabernacle: twenty boards for the south side;

²⁴and he made forty bases of silver under the twenty boards; two bases under one board for its two tenons, and two bases under another board for its two tenons.

²⁵Then for the second side of the tabernacle, on the north side, he made twenty boards,

²⁶and their forty bases of silver; two bases under one board, and two bases under another board.

²⁷And for the back of the tabernacle, to the west, he made six boards.

²⁸He made two boards for the corners of the tabernacle at the back.

²⁹They were double beneath, and together they were complete to its top, to the first ring; he did this with both of them for the two corners.

³⁰There were eight boards with their bases of silver, sixteen bases, two bases under every board.

³¹Then he made bars of acacia wood, five for the boards of one side of the tabernacle,

³²and five bars for the boards of the other side of the tabernacle, and five bars for the boards of the tabernacle for the back side to the west.

³³And he made the middle bar to pass through in the center of the boards from end to end.

³⁴Then he overlaid the boards with gold, and made their rings of gold as holders for the bars, and overlaid the bars with gold.

³⁵Moreover, he made the veil of violet, purple, and scarlet material, and fine twisted linen; he made it with cherubim, the work of a skilled embroiderer.

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

³⁷He also made a curtain for the doorway of the tent, of violet, purple, and scarlet material, and fine twisted linen, the work of a weaver;

³⁸and he made its five pillars with their hooks, and he overlaid their tops and their bands with gold; but their five bases were of bronze.

¹Therefore, having these promises, beloved, let’s cleanse ourselves from all defilement of flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God.

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

³I do not speak to condemn you, for I have said before that you are in our hearts, to die together and to live together.

⁴My confidence in you is great; my boasting in your behalf is great. I am filled with comfort; I am overflowing with joy in all our affliction.

⁵For even when we came into Macedonia our flesh had no rest, but we were afflicted on every side: conflicts on the outside, fears inside.

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

⁷and not only by his arrival, but also by the comfort with which he was comforted among you, as he reported to us your longing, your mourning, your zeal for me; so that I rejoiced even more.

⁸For though I caused you sorrow by my letter, I do not regret it; though I did regret it—for I see that that letter caused you sorrow, though only for a while—

⁹I now rejoice, not that you were made sorrowful, but that you were made sorrowful to the point of repentance; for you were made sorrowful according to the will of God, so that you might not suffer loss in anything through us.

¹⁰For the sorrow that is according to the will of God produces a repentance without regret, leading to salvation, but the sorrow of the world produces death.

¹¹For behold what earnestness this very thing, this godly sorrow, has produced in you: what vindication of yourselves, what indignation, what fear, what longing, what zeal, what punishment of wrong! In everything you demonstrated yourselves to be innocent in the matter.

¹²So although I wrote to you, it was not for the sake of the offender nor for the sake of the one offended, but that your earnestness in our behalf might be made known to you in the sight of God.

¹³Because of this, we have been comforted. And besides our comfort, we rejoiced even much more for the joy of Titus, because his spirit has been refreshed by you all.

¹⁴For if I have boasted to him about you regarding anything, I was not put to shame. But as we spoke all things to you in truth, so also our boasting before Titus proved to be the truth.

¹⁵His affection abounds all the more toward you, as he remembers the obedience of you all, how you received him with fear and trembling.

¹⁶I rejoice that in everything I have confidence in you.

¹Do not sharply rebuke an older man, but rather appeal to him as a father, and to the younger men as brothers,

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

³Honor widows who are actually widows;

⁴but if any widow has children or grandchildren, they must first learn to show proper respect for their own family and to give back compensation to their parents; for this is acceptable in the sight of God.

⁵Now she who is actually a widow and has been left alone has set her hope on God, and she continues in requests and prayers night and day.

⁶But she who indulges herself in luxury is dead, even while she lives.

⁷Give these instructions as well, so that they may be above reproach.

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

⁹A widow is to be put on the list only if she is not less than sixty years old, having been the wife of one man,

¹⁰having a reputation for good works; and if she has brought up children, if she has shown hospitality to strangers, if she has washed the saints’ feet, if she has assisted those in distress, and if she has devoted herself to every good work.

¹¹But refuse to register younger widows, for when they feel physical desires alienating them from Christ, they want to get married,

¹²thereby incurring condemnation, because they have ignored their previous pledge.

¹³At the same time they also learn to be idle, as they go around from house to house; and not merely idle, but also they become gossips and busybodies, talking about things not proper to mention.

¹⁴Therefore, I want younger widows to get married, have children, manage their households, and give the enemy no opportunity for reproach;

¹⁵for some have already turned away to follow Satan.

¹⁶If any woman who is a believer has dependent widows, she must assist them and the church must not be burdened, so that it may assist those who are actually widows.

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

¹⁸For the Scripture says, “YOU SHALL NOT MUZZLE THE OX WHILE IT IS THRESHING,” and “The laborer is worthy of his wages.”

¹⁹Do not accept an accusation against an elder except on the basis of two or three witnesses.

²⁰Those who continue in sin, rebuke in the presence of all, so that the rest also will be fearful of sinning.

²¹I solemnly exhort you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus and of His chosen angels, to maintain these principles without bias, doing nothing in a spirit of partiality.

²²Do not lay hands upon anyone too quickly and thereby share responsibility for the sins of others; keep yourself free from sin.

²³Do not go on drinking only water, but use a little wine for the sake of your stomach and your frequent ailments.

²⁴The sins of some people are quite evident, going before them to judgment; for others, their sins follow after.

²⁵Likewise also, deeds that are good are quite evident, and those which are otherwise cannot be concealed.

¹Then Bildad the Shuhite responded,

²“Dominion and awe belong to Him Who makes peace in His heights.

³Is there any number to His troops? And upon whom does His light not rise?

⁴How then can mankind be righteous with God? Or how can anyone who is born of woman be pure?

⁵If even the moon has no brightness And the stars are not pure in His sight,

⁶How much less man, that maggot, And a son of man, that worm!”

¹To You I have raised my eyes, You who are enthroned in the heavens!

²Behold, as the eyes of servants look to the hand of their master, As the eyes of a female servant to the hand of her mistress, So our eyes look to the LORD our God, Until He is gracious to us.

³Be gracious to us, LORD, be gracious to us, For we have had much more than enough of contempt.

⁴Our soul has had much more than enough Of the scoffing of those who are at ease, And with the contempt of the proud.

¹These also are proverbs of Solomon which the men of Hezekiah, king of Judah, transcribed.

²It is the glory of God to conceal a matter, But the glory of kings is to search out a matter.

³As the heavens for height and the earth for depth, So the heart of kings is unsearchable.

⁴Take away the impurities from the silver, And there comes out a vessel for the smith;

⁵Take away the wicked before the king, And his throne will be established in righteousness.

⁶Do not boast in the presence of the king, And do not stand in the same place as great people;

⁷For it is better that it be said to you, “Come up here,” Than for you to be placed lower in the presence of the prince, Whom your eyes have seen.

⁸Do not go out hastily to argue your case; Otherwise, what will you do in the end, When your neighbor humiliates you?

⁹Argue your case with your neighbor, And do not reveal the secret of another,

¹⁰Or one who hears it will put you to shame, And the evil report about you will not pass away.

¹¹Like apples of gold in settings of silver, Is a word spoken at the proper time.

¹²Like an earring of gold and a jewelry piece of fine gold, Is a wise person who offers rebukes to a listening ear.

¹³Like the cold of snow in the time of harvest Is a faithful messenger to those who send him, For he refreshes the soul of his masters.

¹⁴Like clouds and wind without rain Is a person who boasts of his gifts falsely.

¹⁵Through patience a ruler may be persuaded, And a gentle tongue breaks bone.

¹⁶Have you found honey? Eat only what you need, So that you do not have it in excess and vomit it.

¹⁷Let your foot rarely be in your neighbor’s house, Or he will become weary of you and hate you.

¹⁸Like a club, a sword, and a sharp arrow Is a person who gives false testimony against his neighbor.

¹⁹Like a bad tooth and an unsteady foot Is confidence in a treacherous person in time of trouble.

²⁰Like one who takes off a garment on a cold day, or like vinegar on soda, Is one who sings songs to a troubled heart.

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 brings rain, And a gossiping tongue brings an angry face.

²⁴It is better to live on a corner of the roof, Than in a house shared with a contentious woman.

²⁵Like cold water to a weary soul, So is good news from a distant land.

²⁶Like a trampled spring and a polluted well, So is a righteous person who gives way before the wicked.

²⁷It is not good to eat much honey, Nor is it glory to search out one’s own glory.

²⁸Like a city that is broken into and without walls So is a person who has no self-control over his spirit.

¹Then Joshua gathered all the tribes of Israel at Shechem, and called for the elders of Israel, their heads, their judges, and their officers; and they presented themselves before God.

²Joshua said to all the people, “This is what the LORD, the God of Israel says: ‘From ancient times your fathers lived beyond the Euphrates River, namely, Terah, the father of Abraham and the father of Nahor, and they served other gods.

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

⁴To Isaac I gave Jacob and Esau, and to Esau I gave Mount Seir, to possess it; but Jacob and his sons went down to Egypt.

⁵Then I sent Moses and Aaron, and I plagued Egypt by what I did in its midst; and afterward I brought you out.

⁶So I brought your fathers out of Egypt, and you came to the sea; and Egypt pursued your fathers with chariots and horsemen to the Red Sea.

⁷But when they cried out to the LORD, He put darkness between you and the Egyptians, and brought the sea upon them and covered them; and your own eyes saw what I did in Egypt. And you lived in the wilderness for a long time.

⁸Then I brought you into the land of the Amorites, who lived beyond the Jordan, and they fought with you; but I handed them over to you, and you took possession of their land when I eliminated them before you.

⁹Then Balak the son of Zippor, king of Moab, rose up and fought against Israel, and he sent messengers and summoned Balaam the son of Beor to curse you.

¹⁰But I was not willing to listen to Balaam. So he had to bless you, and I saved you from his hand.

¹¹You crossed the Jordan and came to Jericho; and the citizens of Jericho fought against you, and the Amorite, the Perizzite, the Canaanite, the Hittite, the Girgashite, the Hivite, and the Jebusite. Therefore I handed them over to you.

¹²Then I sent the hornet before you and it drove out the two kings of the Amorites from you—not by your sword nor your bow.

¹³And I gave you a land on which you had not labored, and cities which you had not built, and you have lived in them; you are eating of vineyards and olive groves which you did not plant.’

¹⁴“Now, therefore, fear the LORD and serve Him in sincerity and truth; and do away with the gods which your fathers served beyond the Euphrates River and in Egypt, and serve the LORD.

¹⁵But if it is disagreeable in your sight to serve the LORD, choose for yourselves today whom you will serve: whether the gods which your fathers served, which were beyond the Euphrates River, or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you are living; but as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD.”

¹⁶The people answered and said, “Far be it from us that we would abandon the LORD to serve other gods;

¹⁷for the LORD our God is He who brought us and our fathers up out of the land of Egypt, from the house of slaves, and did these great signs in our sight and watched over us through all the way in which we went and among all the peoples through whose midst we passed.

¹⁸The LORD drove out from before us all the peoples, even the Amorites who lived in the land. We also will serve the LORD, for He is our God.”

¹⁹Then Joshua said to the people, “You will not be able to serve the LORD, for He is a holy God. He is a jealous God; He will not forgive your wrongdoing or your sins.

²⁰If you abandon the LORD and serve foreign gods, then He will turn and do you harm and destroy you after He has done good to you.”

²¹And the people said to Joshua, “No, but we will serve the LORD.”

²²So Joshua said to the people, “You are witnesses against yourselves that you have chosen for yourselves the LORD, to serve Him.” And they said, “We are witnesses.”

²³“Now then, do away with the foreign gods which are in your midst, and incline your hearts to the LORD, the God of Israel.”

²⁴And the people said to Joshua, “We will serve the LORD our God and obey His voice.”

²⁵So Joshua made a covenant with the people that day, and made for them a statute and an ordinance in Shechem.

²⁶And Joshua wrote these words in the Book of the Law of God; and he took a large stone and set it up there under the oak that was by the sanctuary of the LORD.

²⁷Then Joshua said to all the people, “Behold, this stone shall be a witness against us, because it has heard all the words of the LORD which He spoke to us; so it shall be a witness against you, so that you do not deny your God.”

²⁸Then Joshua dismissed the people, each to his inheritance.

²⁹Now it came about after these things that Joshua the son of Nun, the servant of the LORD, died, being 110 years old.

³⁰And they buried him in the territory of his inheritance, in Timnath-serah, which is in the hill country of Ephraim, on the north of Mount Gaash.

³¹Israel served the LORD all the days of Joshua and all the days of the elders who survived Joshua, and had known every deed of the LORD which He had done for Israel.

³²Now they buried the bones of Joseph, which the sons of Israel brought up from Egypt, at Shechem, in the plot of land which Jacob had bought from the sons of Hamor the father of Shechem for a hundred pieces of money; and they became the inheritance of Joseph’s sons.

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

¹The pronouncement concerning Tyre: Wail, you ships of Tarshish, For Tyre is destroyed, without house or harbor; It is reported to them from the land of Cyprus.

²Be silent, you inhabitants of the coastland, You merchants of Sidon; Your messengers crossed the sea

³And were on many waters. The grain of the Nile, the harvest of the River was her revenue; And she was the market of nations.

⁴Be ashamed, Sidon, For the sea speaks, the stronghold of the sea, saying, “I have neither been in labor nor given birth, I have neither brought up young men nor raised virgins.”

⁵When the report reaches Egypt, They will be in anguish over the report of Tyre.

⁶Pass over to Tarshish; Wail, you inhabitants of the coastland.

⁷Is this your jubilant city, Whose origin is from antiquity, Whose feet used to bring her to colonize distant places?

⁸Who has planned this against Tyre, the bestower of crowns, Whose merchants were princes, whose traders were the honored of the earth?

⁹The LORD of armies has planned it, to defile the pride of all beauty, To despise all the honored of the earth.

¹⁰Overflow your land like the Nile, you daughter of Tarshish, There is no more restraint.

¹¹He has stretched His hand out over the sea, He has made the kingdoms tremble; The LORD has given a command concerning Canaan to demolish its strongholds.

¹²He has said, “You shall not be jubilant anymore, you crushed virgin daughter of Sidon. Arise, pass over to Cyprus; even there you will find no rest.”

¹³Behold, the land of the Chaldeans—this is the people that did not exist; Assyria allocated it for desert creatures—they erected their siege towers, they stripped its palaces, they made it a ruin.

¹⁴Wail, you ships of Tarshish, For your stronghold is destroyed.

¹⁵Now on that day Tyre will be forgotten for seventy years like the days of one king. At the end of seventy years it will happen to Tyre as in the song of the prostitute:

¹⁶Take your harp, wander around the city, You forgotten prostitute; Pluck the strings skillfully, sing many songs, That you may be remembered.

¹⁷It will come about at the end of seventy years that the LORD will visit Tyre. Then she will go back to her prostitute’s wages and commit prostitution with all the kingdoms on the face of the earth.

¹⁸Her profit and her prostitute’s wages will be sacred to the LORD; it will not be stored up or hoarded, but her profit will become sufficient food and magnificent attire for those who dwell in the presence of the LORD.

¹Now when we had parted from them and had set sail, we ran a straight course to Cos, and on the next day to Rhodes, and from there to Patara;

²and having found a ship crossing over to Phoenicia, we went aboard and set sail.

³When we came in sight of Cyprus, leaving it on the left, we kept sailing to Syria and landed at Tyre; for the ship was to unload its cargo there.

⁴After looking up the disciples, we stayed there for seven days; and they kept telling Paul, through the Spirit, not to set foot in Jerusalem.

⁵When our days there were ended, we left and started on our journey, while they all, with wives and children, escorted us until we were out of the city. After kneeling down on the beach and praying, we said farewell to one another.

⁶Then we boarded the ship, and they returned home.

⁷When we had finished the voyage from Tyre, we arrived at Ptolemais, and after greeting the brothers and sisters, we stayed with them for a day.

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

⁹Now this man had four virgin daughters who were prophetesses.

¹⁰As we were staying there for some days, a prophet named Agabus came down from Judea.

¹¹And he came to us and took Paul’s belt and bound 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 hand him over to the Gentiles.’ ”

¹²When we had heard this, we as well as the local residents began begging 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 even to die in Jerusalem for the name of the Lord Jesus.”

¹⁴And since he would not be persuaded, we became quiet, remarking, “The will of the Lord be done!”

¹⁵After these days we got ready and started on our way up to Jerusalem.

¹⁶Some of the disciples from Caesarea also came with us, taking us to Mnason of Cyprus, a disciple of long standing with whom we were to stay.

¹⁷After we arrived in Jerusalem, the brothers and sisters received us gladly.

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

¹⁹After he had greeted them, he began to relate one by one the things which God had done among the Gentiles through his ministry.

²⁰And when they heard about them, they began glorifying God; and they said to him, “You see, brother, how many thousands there are among the Jews of those who have believed, and they are all zealous for the Law;

²¹and they have been told about you, that you are teaching all the Jews who are among the Gentiles to abandon Moses, telling them not to circumcise their children nor to walk according to the customs.

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

²³Therefore, do as we tell you: we have four men who have a vow upon themselves;

²⁴take them along and purify yourself together with them, and pay their expenses so that they may shave their heads; and then everyone will know that there is nothing to what they have been told about you, but that you yourself also conform, keeping the Law.

²⁵But regarding the Gentiles who have believed, we sent a letter, having decided that they should abstain from meat sacrificed to idols and from blood and what is strangled, and from sexual immorality.”

²⁶Then Paul took along the men, and the next day, after purifying himself together with them, he went into the temple giving notice of the completion of the days of purification, until the sacrifice was offered for each one of them.

²⁷When the seven days were almost over, the Jews from Asia, upon seeing him in the temple, began to stir up all the crowd and laid hands on him,

²⁸crying out, “Men of Israel, help! This is the man who instructs everyone everywhere against our people and the Law and this place; and besides, he has even 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 thought that Paul had brought him into the temple.

³⁰Then the whole city was provoked and the people rushed together, and taking hold of Paul they dragged him out of the temple, and immediately the doors were shut.

³¹While they were intent on killing him, a report came up to the commander of the Roman cohort that all Jerusalem was in confusion.

³²He immediately took along some soldiers and centurions and ran down to the crowd; and when they saw the commander and the soldiers, they stopped beating Paul.

³³Then the commander came up and took hold of him, and ordered that he be bound with two chains; and he began asking who he was and what he had done.

³⁴But among the crowd, some were shouting one thing and some another, and when he could not find out the facts because of the uproar, he ordered that Paul be brought into the barracks.

³⁵When Paul got to the stairs, it came about that he was carried by the soldiers because of the violence of the mob;

³⁶for the multitude of people kept following them, shouting, “Away with him!”

³⁷As Paul was about to be brought into the barracks, he *said to the commander, “May I say something to you?” And he said, “Do you know Greek?

³⁸Then you are not the Egyptian who some time ago stirred up a revolt and led the four thousand men of the Assassins out into the wilderness?”

³⁹But Paul said, “I am a Jew of Tarsus in Cilicia, a citizen of no insignificant city; and I beg you, allow me to speak to the people.”

⁴⁰When he had given him permission, Paul, standing on the stairs, motioned to the people with his hand; and when there was a great silence, he spoke to them in the Hebrew dialect, saying,