Professor Horner’s Reading Plan

¹At that time Jesus went through the grainfields on the Sabbath, and His disciples became hungry and began to pick the heads of grain and eat.

²Now when the Pharisees saw this, they said to Him, “Look, Your disciples are doing what is not lawful to do on a Sabbath!”

³But He said to them, “Have you not read what David did when he became hungry, he and his companions—

⁴how he entered the house of God, and they ate theconsecrated bread, which was not lawful for him to eat nor for those with him, but for the priests alone?

⁵Or have you not read in the Law that on the Sabbath the priests in the templeviolate the Sabbath, and yet are innocent?

⁶But I say to you that something greater than the temple is here.

⁷But if you had known what thismeans: ‘I DESIRECOMPASSION,RATHER THAN SACRIFICE,’ you would not have condemnedthe innocent.

⁸For the Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath.”

⁹Departing from there, He went into their synagogue.

¹⁰And a man was there whose hand was withered. And they questioned Jesus, asking, “Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath?”—so that they might bring charges against Him.

¹¹But He said to them, “What manis there among you whohas a sheep, and if it falls into a pit on the Sabbath, will he not take hold of it and lift it out?

¹²How much more valuable then is a person than a sheep! So then, it is lawful to dogood on the Sabbath.”

¹³Then He *said to the man, “Stretch out your hand!” He stretched it out, and it was restored to normal, like the other.

¹⁴But the Pharisees went out and conspired against Him, as to how they might destroy Him.

¹⁵But Jesus, aware of this, withdrew from there. Many followed Him, and He healed them all,

¹⁶and warned them not to tell who He was.

¹⁷This happened so that what was spoken through Isaiah the prophet would be fulfilled:

¹⁸“BEHOLD, MY SERVANT WHOM I HAVE CHOSEN; MY BELOVED IN WHOM MY SOUL DELIGHTS; I WILL PUT MY SPIRIT UPON HIM, AND HE WILL PROCLAIM JUSTICE TO THE GENTILES.

¹⁹HE WILL NOT QUARREL, NOR CRY OUT; NOR WILL ANYONE HEAR HIS VOICE IN THE STREETS.

²⁰A BENT REED HE WILL NOT BREAK off, AND A DIMLY BURNING WICK HE WILL NOT EXTINGUISH, UNTIL HE LEADS JUSTICE TO VICTORY.

²¹AND IN HIS NAME THE GENTILES WILL HOPE.”

²²Then a demon-possessed man who was blind and unable to speak was brought to Jesus, and He healed him so that the man who was unable to speak talked and could see.

²³And all the crowds were amazed and were saying, “This man cannot be the Son of David, can he?”

²⁴But when the Pharisees heard this, they said, “This man casts out demons only by Beelzebul the ruler of the demons.”

²⁵And knowing their thoughts, Jesus said to them, “Every kingdom divided against itself is laid waste; and no city or house divided against itself will stand.

²⁶And if Satan is casting out Satan, hehas become divided against himself; how then will his kingdom stand?

²⁷And if byBeelzebul I cast out the demons, by whom do your sons cast them out? Therefore, they will be your judges.

²⁸But if I cast out the demons by the Spirit of God, then the kingdom of God has come upon you.

²⁹Or, how can anyone enter the strong man’s house and carry off his property, unless he first ties up the strong man? And then he will plunder his house.

³⁰The one who is not with Me is against Me; and the one who does not gather with Me scatters.

³¹“Therefore I say to you, every sin and blasphemy shall be forgiven people, but blasphemy against the Spirit shall not be forgiven.

³²And whoever speaks a word against the Son of Man, it shall be forgiven him; but whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit, it shall not be forgiven him, either in this age or in the age to come.

³³“Either assume the tree to be good as well as its fruit good, or assume the tree to be bad as well as its fruit bad; for the tree is known by its fruit.

³⁴Youoffspring of vipers, how can you, being evil, express any good things? For the mouth speaks from that which fills the heart.

³⁵The good person brings out of his good treasure good things; and the evil person brings out of his evil treasure evil things.

³⁶But I tell you that for everycareless word that peoplespeak, they will give an account of it on the day of judgment.

³⁷Forby your words you will be justified, andby your words you will be condemned.”

³⁸Then some of the scribes and Pharisees said to Him, “Teacher, we want to see a sign from You.”

³⁹But He answered and said to them, “An evil and adulterous generation craves asign; and so nosign will be given to it except thesign of Jonah the prophet;

⁴⁰for just as JONAH WAS IN THE STOMACH OF THE SEA MONSTER FOR THREE DAYS AND THREE NIGHTS, so will the Son of Man be in the heart of the earth for three days and three nights.

⁴¹The men of Nineveh will stand up with this generation at the judgment, and will condemn it because they repented at the preaching of Jonah; and behold, something greater than Jonah is here.

⁴²The Queen of the South will rise up with this generation at the judgment and will condemn it, because she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon; and behold, something greater than Solomon is here.

⁴³“Now when the unclean spirit comes out of a person, it passes through waterless places seeking rest, and does not find it.

⁴⁴Then it says, ‘I will return to my house from which I came’; and when it comes, it finds it unoccupied, swept, and put in order.

⁴⁵Then it goes and brings along with it seven other spirits more wicked than itself, and they come in and live there; and the last condition of that person becomes worse than the first. That is the way it will also be with this evil generation.”

⁴⁶While He was still speaking to the crowds, behold, His mother and brothers were standing outside, seeking to speak to Him.

⁴⁷[Someone said to Him, “Look, Your mother and Your brothers are standing outside, seeking to speak to You.”]

⁴⁸But Jesus replied to the one who was telling Him and said, “Who is My mother, and who are My brothers?”

⁴⁹And extending His hand toward His disciples, He said, “Behold: My mother and My brothers!

⁵⁰For whoever does the will of My Father who is in heaven, he is My brother, and sister, and mother.”

¹‘Now when anyone presents a grain offering as an offering to the LORD, his offering shall be of fine flour, and he shall pour oil on it and put frankincense on it.

²He shall then bring it to Aaron’s sons the priests; and he shall take from it his handful of its fine flour and of its oil, with all of its frankincense. And the priest shall offer it up in smoke as its memorial portion on the altar, an offering by fire of a soothing aroma to the LORD.

³The remainder of the grain offering belongs to Aaron and his sons: a most holy part of the offerings to the LORD by fire.

⁴‘Now when you bring an offering of a grain offering baked in an oven, it shall be unleavened cakes of fine flour mixed with oil, or unleavened wafers spread with oil.

⁵And if your offering is a grain offering made on the griddle, it shall be of fine flour, unleavened, mixed with oil;

⁶you shall break it into bits and pour oil on it; it is a grain offering.

⁷Now if your offering is a grain offering made in a pan, it shall be made of fine flour with oil.

⁸When you bring in the grain offering which is made of these things to the LORD, it shall be presented to the priest, and he shall bring it to the altar.

⁹The priest then shall take up from the grain offering its memorial portion, and shall offer it up in smoke on the altar as an offering by fire of a soothing aroma to the LORD.

¹⁰The remainder of the grain offering belongs to Aaron and his sons: a most holy part of the offerings to the LORD by fire.

¹¹‘No grain offering, which you bring to the LORD, shall be made with leaven, for you shall not offer up in smoke any leaven or any honey as an offering by fire to the LORD.

¹²As an offering of first fruits you shall bring them to the LORD, but they shall not ascend as a soothing aroma on the altar.

¹³Every grain offering of yours, moreover, you shall season with salt, so that the salt of the covenant of your God will not be lacking from your grain offering; with all your offerings you shall offer salt.

¹⁴‘Also if you bring a grain offering of early ripened things to the LORD, you shall bring fresh heads of grain roasted in the fire, crushed grain of new growth, for the grain offering of your early ripened produce.

¹⁵You shall then put oil on it and place incense on it; it is a grain offering.

¹⁶Then the priest shall offer up in smoke its memorial portion, part of its crushed grain and its oil with all its incense as an offering by fire to the LORD.

¹This is the third time that I am coming to you. ON THE TESTIMONY OF TWO OR THREE WITNESSES EVERY MATTER SHALL BE CONFIRMED.

²I have previously said when I was present the second time, and though now absent I say in advance to those who have sinned in the past and to all the rest as well, that if I come again I will not spare anyone,

³since you are seeking proof of the Christ who speaks in me, who is not weak toward you, but mighty in you.

⁴For indeed He was crucified because of weakness, yet He lives because of the power of God. For we too are weak in Him, yet we will live with Him because of the power of God directed toward you.

⁵Test yourselves to see if you are in the faith; examine yourselves! Or do you not recognize this about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you—unless indeed you fail the test?

⁶But I expect that you will realize that we ourselves do not fail the test.

⁷Now we pray to God that you do nothing wrong; not so that we ourselves may appear approved, but that you may do what is right, though we may appear unapproved.

⁸For we cannot do anything against the truth, but only for the truth.

⁹For we rejoice when we ourselves are weak, but you are strong; this we also pray for, that you become mature.

¹⁰For this reason I am writing these things while absent, so that when present I need not use severity, in accordance with the authority which the Lord gave me for building up and not for tearing down.

¹¹Finally, brothers and sisters, rejoice, mend your ways, be comforted, be like-minded, live in peace; and the God of love and peace will be with you.

¹²Greet one another with a holy kiss.

¹³All the saints greet you.

¹⁴The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit, be with you all.

¹Paul, a bond-servant of God and an apostle of Jesus Christ, for the faith of those chosen of God and the knowledge of the truth which is according to godliness,

²in the hope of eternal life, which God, who cannot lie, promised long ages ago,

³but at the proper time revealed His word in the proclamation with which I was entrusted according to the commandment of God our Savior;

⁴To Titus, my true son in a common faith: Grace and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Savior.

⁵For this reason I left you in Crete, that you would set in order what remains and appoint elders in every city as I directed you,

⁶namely, if any man is beyond reproach, the husband of one wife, having children who believe, not accused of indecent behavior or rebellion.

⁷For the overseer must be beyond reproach as God’s steward, not self-willed, not quick-tempered, not overindulging in wine, not a bully, not greedy for money,

⁸but hospitable, loving what is good, self-controlled, righteous, holy, disciplined,

⁹holding firmly the faithful word which is in accordance with the teaching, so that he will be able both to exhort in sound doctrine and to refute those who contradict it.

¹⁰For there are many rebellious people, empty talkers and deceivers, especially those of the circumcision,

¹¹who must be silenced because they are upsetting whole families, teaching things they should not teach for the sake of dishonest gain.

¹²One of them, a prophet of their own, said, “Cretans are always liars, evil beasts, lazy gluttons.”

¹³This testimony is true. For this reason reprimand them severely so that they may be sound in the faith,

¹⁴not paying attention to Jewish myths and commandments of men who turn away from the truth.

¹⁵To the pure, all things are pure; but to those who are defiled and unbelieving, nothing is pure, but both their mind and their conscience are defiled.

¹⁶They profess to know God, but by their deeds they deny Him, being detestable and disobedient and worthless for any good deed.

¹“I have made a covenant with my eyes; How then could I look at a virgin?

²And what is the portion of God from above, Or the inheritance of the Almighty from on high?

³Is it not disaster to the criminal, And misfortune to those who practice injustice?

⁴Does He not see my ways, And count all my steps?

⁵“If I have walked with deception, And my foot has hurried after deceit,

⁶Let Him weigh me with accurate scales, And let God know my integrity.

⁷If my step has turned from the way, Or my heart followed my eyes, Or if any spot has stuck to my hands,

⁸Let me sow and another eat, And let my crops be uprooted.

⁹“If my heart has been enticed by a woman, Or I have lurked at my neighbor’s doorway,

¹⁰May my wife grind grain for another, And let others kneel down over her.

¹¹For that would be a lustful crime; Moreover, it would be wrongdoing punishable by judges.

¹²For it would be fire that consumes to Abaddon, And would uproot all my increase.

¹³“If I have rejected the claim of my male or female slaves When they filed a complaint against me,

¹⁴What then could I do when God arises? And when He calls me to account, how am I to answer Him?

¹⁵Did He who made me in the womb not make him, And the same one create us in the womb?

¹⁶“If I have kept the poor from their desire, Or have caused the eyes of the widow to fail,

¹⁷Or have eaten my morsel alone, And the orphan has not shared it

¹⁸(But from my youth he grew up with me as with a father, And from my infancy I guided her),

¹⁹If I have seen anyone perish for lack of clothing, Or that the needy had no covering,

²⁰If his waist has not thanked me, And if he has not been warmed with the fleece of my sheep,

²¹If I have lifted up my hand against the orphan, Because I saw I had support in the gate,

²²May my shoulder fall from its socket, And my arm be broken off at the elbow.

²³For disaster from God is a terror to me, And because of His majesty I can do nothing.

²⁴“If I have put my confidence in gold, And called fine gold my trust,

²⁵If I have gloated because my wealth was great, And because my hand had obtained so much;

²⁶If I have looked at the sun when it shone, Or the moon going in splendor,

²⁷And my heart was secretly enticed, And my hand threw a kiss from my mouth,

²⁸That too would have been a guilty deed calling for judgment, For I would have denied God above.

²⁹“Have I rejoiced at the misfortune of my enemy, Or become excited when evil found him?

³⁰No, I have not allowed my mouth to sin By asking for his life in a curse.

³¹Have the people of my tent not said, ‘Who can find one who has not been satisfied with his meat’?

³²The stranger has not spent the night outside, For I have opened my doors to the traveler.

³³Have I covered my wrongdoings like a man, By hiding my guilt in my shirt pocket,

³⁴Because I feared the great multitude And the contempt of families terrified me, And I kept silent and did not go out of doors?

³⁵Oh that I had one to hear me! Here is my signature; Let the Almighty answer me! And the indictment which my adversary has written,

³⁶I would certainly carry it on my shoulder, I would tie it to myself like a garland.

³⁷I would declare to Him the number of my steps; Like a prince, I would approach Him.

³⁸“If my land cries out against me, And its furrows weep together;

³⁹If I have eaten its fruit without money, Or have caused its owners to lose their lives,

⁴⁰May the thorn-bush grow instead of wheat, And stinkweed instead of barley.” The words of Job are ended.

¹“Many times they have attacked me from my youth up,” Let Israel say,

²“Many times they have attacked me from my youth up; Yet they have not prevailed against me.

³The plowers plowed upon my back; They lengthened their furrows.”

⁴The LORD is righteous; He has cut up the ropes of the wicked.

⁵May all who hate Zion Be put to shame and turned backward;

⁶May they be like grass upon the housetops, Which withers before it grows up;

⁷With which the harvester does not fill his hand, Or the binder of sheaves his arms;

⁸Nor do those who pass by say, “The blessing of the LORD be upon you; We bless you in the name of the LORD.”

¹The words of King Lemuel, the pronouncement which his mother taught him:

²What, my son? And what, son of my womb? And what, son of my vows?

³Do not give your strength to women, Or your ways to that which destroys kings.

⁴It is not for kings, Lemuel, It is not for kings to drink wine, Or for rulers to desire intoxicating drink,

⁵Otherwise they will drink and forget what is decreed, And pervert the rights of all the needy.

⁶Give intoxicating drink to one who is perishing, And wine to one whose life is bitter.

⁷Let him drink and forget his poverty, And remember his trouble no more.

⁸Open your mouth for the people who cannot speak, For the rights of all the unfortunate.

⁹Open your mouth, judge righteously, And defend the rights of the poor and needy.

¹⁰An excellent wife, who can find her? For her worth is far above jewels.

¹¹The heart of her husband trusts in her, And he will have no lack of gain.

¹²She does him good and not evil All the days of her life.

¹³She looks for wool and linen, And works with her hands in delight.

¹⁴She is like merchant ships; She brings her food from afar.

¹⁵And she rises while it is still night And gives food to her household, And portions to her attendants.

¹⁶She considers a field and buys it; From her earnings she plants a vineyard.

¹⁷She surrounds her waist with strength And makes her arms strong.

¹⁸She senses that her profit is good; Her lamp does not go out at night.

¹⁹She stretches out her hands to the distaff, And her hands grasp the spindle.

²⁰She extends her hand to the poor, And she stretches out her hands to the needy.

²¹She is not afraid of the snow for her household, For all her household are clothed with scarlet.

²²She makes coverings for herself; Her clothing is fine linen and purple.

²³Her husband is known in the gates, When he sits among the elders of the land.

²⁴She makes linen garments and sells them, And supplies belts to the tradesmen.

²⁵Strength and dignity are her clothing, And she smiles at the future.

²⁶She opens her mouth in wisdom, And the teaching of kindness is on her tongue.

²⁷She watches over the activities of her household, And does not eat the bread of idleness.

²⁸Her children rise up and bless her; Her husband also, and he praises her, saying:

²⁹“Many daughters have done nobly, But you excel them all.”

³⁰Charm is deceitful and beauty is vain, But a woman who fears the LORD, she shall be praised.

³¹Give her the product of her hands, And let her works praise her in the gates.

¹Then the sons of Israel did what was evil in the sight of the LORD; and the LORD handed them over to Midian for seven years.

²The power of Midian prevailed against Israel. Because of Midian the sons of Israel made for themselves the dens which were in the mountains and the caves and the strongholds.

³For whenever Israel had sown, the Midianites would come up with the Amalekites and the people of the east and march against them.

⁴So they would camp against them and destroy the produce of the earth as far as Gaza, and leave no sustenance in Israel, nor a sheep, ox, or donkey.

⁵For they would come up with their livestock and their tents, they would come in like locusts in number, and both they and their camels were innumerable; and they came into the land to ruin it.

⁶So Israel was brought very low because of Midian, and the sons of Israel cried out to the LORD.

⁷Now it came about, when the sons of Israel cried out to the LORD on account of Midian,

⁸that the LORD sent a prophet to the sons of Israel, and he said to them, “This is what the LORD, the God of Israel says: ‘It was I who brought you up from Egypt, and brought you out of the house of slavery.

⁹And I rescued you from the hands of the Egyptians, and from the hands of all your oppressors, and I drove them out from you and gave you their land,

¹⁰and I said to you, “I am the LORD your God; you shall not fear the gods of the Amorites in whose land you live.” But you have not obeyed Me.’ ”

¹¹Then the angel of the LORD came and sat under the oak that was in Ophrah, which belonged to Joash the Abiezrite, as his son Gideon was beating out wheat in the wine press in order to save it from the Midianites.

¹²And the angel of the LORD appeared to him and said to him, “The LORD is with you, valiant warrior.”

¹³Then Gideon said to him, “O my lord, if the LORD is with us, why then has all this happened to us? And where are all His miracles which our fathers told us about, saying, ‘Did the LORD not bring us up from Egypt?’ But now the LORD has abandoned us and handed us over to Midian.”

¹⁴And the LORD looked at him and said, “Go in this strength of yours and save Israel from the hand of Midian. Have I not sent you?”

¹⁵But he said to Him, “O Lord, how am I to save Israel? Behold, my family is the least in Manasseh, and I am the youngest in my father’s house.”

¹⁶Yet the LORD said to him, “I will certainly be with you, and you will defeat Midian as one man.”

¹⁷So Gideon said to Him, “If now I have found favor in Your sight, then perform for me a sign that it is You speaking with me.

¹⁸Please do not depart from here until I come back to You, and bring out my offering and lay it before You.” And He said, “I will remain until you return.”

¹⁹Then Gideon went in and prepared a young goat and unleavened bread from an ephah of flour; he put the meat in a basket and the broth in a pot, and brought them out to him under the oak and presented them.

²⁰And the angel of God said to him, “Take the meat and the unleavened bread and lay them on this rock, and pour out the broth.” And he did so.

²¹Then the angel of the LORD put out the end of the staff that was in his hand and touched the meat and the unleavened bread; and fire came up from the rock and consumed the meat and the unleavened bread. Then the angel of the LORD vanished from his sight.

²²When Gideon perceived that he was the angel of the LORD, he said, “Oh, Lord GOD! For I have seen the angel of the LORD face to face!”

²³But the LORD said to him, “Peace to you, do not be afraid; you shall not die.”

²⁴Then Gideon built an altar there to the LORD and named it The LORD is Peace. To this day it is still in Ophrah of the Abiezrites.

²⁵Now on the same night the LORD said to him, “Take your father’s bull and a second bull seven years old, and tear down the altar of Baal which belongs to your father, and cut down the Asherah that is beside it;

²⁶and build an altar to the LORD your God on the top of this stronghold in an orderly way, and take a second bull and offer a burnt offering with the wood of the Asherah which you shall cut down.”

²⁷Then Gideon took ten men from his servants and did as the LORD had spoken to him; and because he was too afraid of his father’s household and the men of the city to do it by day, he did it by night.

²⁸When the people of the city got up early in the morning, behold, the altar of Baal had been torn down, and the Asherah which had been beside it had been cut down, and the second bull had been offered on the altar which had been built.

²⁹So they said to one another, “Who did this thing?” And when they searched and inquired, they said, “Gideon the son of Joash did this thing.”

³⁰Then the men of the city said to Joash, “Bring out your son, that he may die, for he has torn down the altar of Baal, and indeed, he has cut down the Asherah which was beside it.”

³¹But Joash said to all who stood against him, “Will you contend for Baal, or will you save him? Whoever will contend for him shall be put to death by morning. If he is a god, let him contend for himself, since someone has torn down his altar!”

³²Therefore on that day he named Gideon Jerubbaal, that is to say, “Let Baal contend against him,” because he had torn down his altar.

³³Then all the Midianites, the Amalekites, and the people of the east assembled together; and they crossed over and camped in the Valley of Jezreel.

³⁴So the Spirit of the LORD covered Gideon like clothing; and he blew a trumpet, and the Abiezrites were called together to follow him.

³⁵And he sent messengers throughout Manasseh, and they also were called together to follow him; and he sent messengers to Asher, Zebulun, and Naphtali, and they came up to meet them.

³⁶Then Gideon said to God, “If You are going to save Israel through me, as You have spoken,

³⁷behold, I am putting a fleece of wool on the threshing floor. If there is dew on the fleece only, and it is dry on all the ground, then I will know that You will save Israel through me, as You have spoken.”

³⁸And it was so. When he got up early the next morning and wrung out the fleece, he wrung the dew from the fleece, a bowl full of water.

³⁹Then Gideon said to God, “Do not let Your anger burn against me, so that I may speak only one more time; please let me put You to the test only one more time with the fleece: let it now be dry only on the fleece, and let there be dew on all the ground.”

⁴⁰And God did so that night; for it was dry only on the fleece, and dew was on all the ground.

¹Woe, Ariel, Ariel the city where David once camped! Add year to year, keep your feasts on schedule.

²I will bring distress to Ariel, And she will be a city of grieving and mourning; And she will be like an Ariel to me.

³I will camp against you encircling you, And I will set up siegeworks against you, And I will raise up battle towers against you.

⁴Then you will be brought low; From the earth you will speak, And from the dust where you are prostrate Your words will come. Your voice will also be like that of a spirit from the ground, And your speech will whisper from the dust.

⁵But the multitude of your enemies will become like fine dust, And the multitude of the ruthless ones like the chaff which blows away; And it will happen instantly, suddenly.

⁶From the LORD of armies you will be punished with thunder and earthquake and loud noise, With whirlwind and tempest and the flame of a consuming fire.

⁷And the multitude of all the nations who wage war against Ariel, Even all who wage war against her and her stronghold, and who distress her, Will be like a dream, a vision of the night.

⁸It will be as when a hungry person dreams— And behold, he is eating; But when he awakens, his hunger is not satisfied, Or as when a thirsty person dreams— And behold, he is drinking, But when he awakens, behold, he is faint And his thirst is not quenched. So will the multitude of all the nations be Who wage war against Mount Zion.

⁹Be delayed and horrified, Blind yourselves and be blind; They become drunk, but not with wine, They stagger, but not with intoxicating drink.

¹⁰For the LORD has poured over you a spirit of deep sleep, He has shut your eyes—the prophets; And He has covered your heads—the seers.

¹¹The entire vision will be to you like the words of a sealed book, which, when they give it to the one who is literate, saying, “Please read this,” he will say, “I cannot, because it is sealed.”

¹²Then the book will be given to the one who is illiterate, saying, “Please read this.” And he will say, “I cannot read.”

¹³Then the Lord said, “Because this people approaches Me with their words And honors Me with their lips, But their heart is far away from Me, And their reverence for Me consists of the commandment of men that is taught;

¹⁴Therefore behold, I will once again deal marvelously with this people, wondrously marvelous; And the wisdom of their wise men will perish, And the understanding of their men who have understanding will be concealed.”

¹⁵Woe to those who deeply hide their plans from the LORD, And whose deeds are done in a dark place, And they say, “Who sees us?” or “Who knows us?”

¹⁶You turn things around! Shall the potter be considered as equal with the clay, That what is made would say to its maker, “He did not make me”; Or what is formed say to him who formed it, “He has no understanding”?

¹⁷Is it not yet just a little while Before Lebanon will be turned into a fertile field, And the fertile field will be considered as a forest?

¹⁸On that day those who are deaf will hear words of a book, And out of their gloom and darkness the eyes of those who are blind will see.

¹⁹The afflicted also will increase their joy in the LORD, And the needy of mankind will rejoice in the Holy One of Israel.

²⁰For the ruthless will come to an end and the scorner will be finished, Indeed all who are intent on doing evil will be eliminated,

²¹Who cause a person to be indicted by a word, And set a trap for the arbitrator at the gate, And defraud the one in the right with meaningless arguments.

²²Therefore this is what the LORD, who redeemed Abraham, says concerning the house of Jacob: “Jacob will not be ashamed now, nor will his face turn pale now;

²³But when he sees his children, the work of My hands, in his midst, They will sanctify My name; Indeed, they will sanctify the Holy One of Jacob, And will stand in awe of the God of Israel.

²⁴Those who err in mind will know the truth, And those who criticize will accept instruction.

¹Now when it was decided that we would sail for Italy, they proceeded to turn Paul and some other prisoners over to a centurion of the Augustan cohort, named Julius.

²And we boarded an Adramyttian ship that was about to sail to the regions along the coast of Asia, and put out to sea accompanied by Aristarchus, a Macedonian of Thessalonica.

³The next day we put in at Sidon; and Julius treated Paul with consideration and allowed him to go to his friends and receive care.

⁴From there we put out to sea and sailed under the shelter of Cyprus, because the winds were contrary.

⁵When we had sailed through the sea along the coast of Cilicia and Pamphylia, we landed at Myra in Lycia.

⁶There the centurion found an Alexandrian ship sailing for Italy, and he put us aboard it.

⁷When we had sailed slowly for a good many days, and with difficulty had arrived off Cnidus, since the wind did not permit us to go farther, we sailed under the shelter of Crete, off Salmone;

⁸and with difficulty sailing past it, we came to a place called Fair Havens, near which was the city of Lasea.

⁹When considerable time had passed and the voyage was now dangerous, since even the fast was already over, Paul started admonishing them,

¹⁰saying to them, “Men, I perceive that the voyage will certainly be with damage and great loss, not only of the cargo and the ship, but also of our lives.”

¹¹But the centurion was more persuaded by the pilot and the captain of the ship than by what was being said by Paul.

¹²The harbor was not suitable for wintering, so the majority reached a decision to put out to sea from there, if somehow they could reach Phoenix, a harbor of Crete facing southwest and northwest, and spend the winter there.

¹³When a moderate south wind came up, thinking that they had attained their purpose, they weighed anchor and began sailing along Crete, closer to shore.

¹⁴But before very long a violent wind, called Euraquilo, rushed down from the land;

¹⁵and when the ship was caught in it and could not head up into the wind, we gave up and let ourselves be driven by the wind.

¹⁶Running under the shelter of a small island called Cauda, we were able to get the ship’s boat under control only with difficulty.

¹⁷After they had hoisted it up, they used supporting cables in undergirding the ship; and fearing that they might run aground on the shallows of Syrtis, they let down the sea anchor and let themselves be driven along in this way.

¹⁸The next day as we were being violently tossed by the storm, they began to jettison the cargo;

¹⁹and on the third day they threw the ship’s tackle overboard with their own hands.

²⁰Since neither sun nor stars appeared for many days, and no small storm was assailing us, from then on all hope of our being saved was slowly abandoned.

²¹When many had lost their appetites, Paul then stood among them and said, “Men, you should have followed my advice and not have set sail from Crete, and thereby spared yourselves this damage and loss.

²²And yet now I urge you to keep up your courage, for there will be no loss of life among you, but only of the ship.

²³For this very night an angel of the God to whom I belong, whom I also serve, came to me,

²⁴saying, ‘Do not be afraid, Paul; you must stand before Caesar; and behold, God has graciously granted you all those who are sailing with you.’

²⁵Therefore, keep up your courage, men, for I believe God that it will turn out exactly as I have been told.

²⁶But we must run aground on a certain island.”

²⁷But when the fourteenth night came, as we were being driven about in the Adriatic Sea, about midnight the sailors began to suspect that they were approaching some land.

²⁸And they took soundings and found it to be twenty fathoms; and a little farther on they took another sounding and found it to be fifteen fathoms.

²⁹Fearing that we might run aground somewhere on the rocks, they cast four anchors from the stern and prayed for daybreak.

³⁰But as the sailors were trying to escape from the ship and had let down the ship’s boat into the sea, on the pretense that they were going to lay out anchors from the bow,

³¹Paul said to the centurion and the soldiers, “Unless these men remain on the ship, you yourselves cannot be saved.”

³²Then the soldiers cut away the ropes of the ship’s boat and let it fall away.

³³Until the day was about to dawn, Paul kept encouraging them all to take some food, saying, “Today is the fourteenth day that you have been constantly watching and going without eating, having taken in nothing.

³⁴Therefore, I encourage you to take some food, for this is for your survival, for not a hair from the head of any of you will perish.”

³⁵Having said this, he took bread and gave thanks to God in the presence of them all, and he broke it and began to eat.

³⁶All of them were encouraged and they themselves also took food.

³⁷We were 276 people on the ship in all.

³⁸When they had eaten enough, they began lightening the ship by throwing the wheat out into the sea.

³⁹Now when day came, they could not recognize the land; but they did notice a bay with a beach, and they resolved to run the ship onto it if they could.

⁴⁰And casting off the anchors, they left them in the sea while at the same time they were loosening the ropes of the rudders; and they hoisted the foresail to the wind and were heading for the beach.

⁴¹But they struck a reef where two seas met and ran the ship aground; and the prow stuck firmly and remained immovable, while the stern started to break up due to the force of the waves.

⁴²The soldiers’ plan was to kill the prisoners, so that none of them would swim away and escape;

⁴³but the centurion, wanting to bring Paul safely through, kept them from accomplishing their intention, and commanded that those who could swim were to jump overboard first and get to land,

⁴⁴and the rest were to follow, some on planks, and others on various things from the ship. And so it happened that they all were brought safely to land.