Professor Horner’s Reading Plan

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

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

³But He said to them, “Have you not read what David did when he was hungry, he and those who were with him:

⁴how he entered the house of God and ate the showbread which was not lawful for him to eat, nor for those who were with him, but only for the priests?

⁵Or have you not read in the law that on the Sabbath the priests in the temple profane the Sabbath, and are blameless?

⁶Yet I say to you that in this place there is One greater than the temple.

⁷But if you had known what this means, ‘I desire mercy and not sacrifice,’ you would not have condemned the guiltless.

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

⁹Now when He had departed from there, He went into their synagogue.

¹⁰And behold, there was a man who had a withered hand. And they asked Him, saying, “Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath?”—that they might accuse Him.

¹¹Then He said to them, “What man is there among you who has one sheep, and if it falls into a pit on the Sabbath, will not lay hold of it and lift it out?

¹²Of how much more value then is a man than a sheep? Therefore it is lawful to do good on the Sabbath.”

¹³Then He said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” And he stretched it out, and it was restored as whole as the other.

¹⁴Then the Pharisees went out and plotted against Him, how they might destroy Him.

¹⁵But when Jesus knew it, He withdrew from there. And great multitudes followed Him, and He healed them all.

¹⁶Yet He warned them not to make Him known,

¹⁷that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Isaiah the prophet, saying:

¹⁸“Behold! My Servant whom I have chosen, My Beloved in whom My soul is well pleased! I will put My Spirit upon Him, And He will declare justice to the Gentiles.

¹⁹He will not quarrel nor cry out, Nor will anyone hear His voice in the streets.

²⁰A bruised reed He will not break, And smoking flax He will not quench, Till He sends forth justice to victory;

²¹And in His name Gentiles will trust.”

²²Then one was brought to Him who was demon-possessed, blind and mute; and He healed him, so that the blind and mute man both spoke and saw.

²³And all the multitudes were amazed and said, “Could this be the Son of David?”

²⁴Now when the Pharisees heard it they said, “This fellow does not cast out demons except by Beelzebub, the ruler of the demons.”

²⁵But Jesus knew their thoughts, and said to them: “Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation, and every city or house divided against itself will not stand.

²⁶If Satan casts out Satan, he is divided against himself. How then will his kingdom stand?

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

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

²⁹Or how can one enter a strong man’s house and plunder his goods, unless he first binds the strong man? And then he will plunder his house.

³⁰He who is not with Me is against Me, and he who does not gather with Me scatters abroad.

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

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

³³“Either make the tree good and its fruit good, or else make the tree bad and its fruit bad; for a tree is known by its fruit.

³⁴Brood of vipers! How can you, being evil, speak good things? For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks.

³⁵A good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth good things, and an evil man out of the evil treasure brings forth evil things.

³⁶But I say to you that for every idle word men may speak, they will give account of it in the day of judgment.

³⁷For by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned.”

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

³⁹But He answered and said to them, “An evil and adulterous generation seeks after a sign, and no sign will be given to it except the sign of the prophet Jonah.

⁴⁰For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the great fish, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.

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

⁴²The queen of the South will rise up in the judgment with this generation and condemn it, for she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon; and indeed a greater than Solomon is here.

⁴³“When an unclean spirit goes out of a man, he goes through dry places, seeking rest, and finds none.

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

⁴⁵Then he goes and takes with him seven other spirits more wicked than himself, and they enter and dwell there; and the last state of that man is worse than the first. So shall it also be with this wicked generation.”

⁴⁶While He was still talking to the multitudes, behold, His mother and brothers stood outside, seeking to speak with Him.

⁴⁷Then one said to Him, “Look, Your mother and Your brothers are standing outside, seeking to speak with You.”

⁴⁸But He answered and said to the one who told Him, “Who is My mother and who are My brothers?”

⁴⁹And He stretched out His hand toward His disciples and said, “Here are My mother and My brothers!

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

¹‘When anyone offers a grain 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 bring it to Aaron’s sons, the priests, one of whom shall take from it his handful of fine flour and oil with all the frankincense. And the priest shall burn it as a memorial on the altar, an offering made by fire, a sweet aroma to the LORD.

³The rest of the grain offering shall be Aaron’s and his sons’. It is most holy of the offerings to the LORD made by fire.

⁴‘And if you bring as an offering a grain offering baked in the oven, it shall be unleavened cakes of fine flour mixed with oil, or unleavened wafers anointed with oil.

⁵But if your offering is a grain offering baked in a pan, it shall be of fine flour, unleavened, mixed with oil.

⁶You shall break it in pieces and pour oil on it; it is a grain offering.

⁷‘If your offering is a grain offering baked in a covered pan, it shall be made of fine flour with oil.

⁸You shall bring the grain offering that is made of these things to the LORD. And when it is presented to the priest, he shall bring it to the altar.

⁹Then the priest shall take from the grain offering a memorial portion, and burn it on the altar. It is an offering made by fire, a sweet aroma to the LORD.

¹⁰And what is left of the grain offering shall be Aaron’s and his sons’. It is most holy of the offerings to the LORD made by fire.

¹¹‘No grain offering which you bring to the LORD shall be made with leaven, for you shall burn no leaven nor any honey in any offering to the LORD made by fire.

¹²As for the offering of the firstfruits, you shall offer them to the LORD, but they shall not be burned on the altar for a sweet aroma.

¹³And every offering of your grain offering you shall season with salt; you shall not allow the salt of the covenant of your God to be lacking from your grain offering. With all your offerings you shall offer salt.

¹⁴‘If you offer a grain offering of your firstfruits to the LORD, you shall offer for the grain offering of your firstfruits green heads of grain roasted on the fire, grain beaten from full heads.

¹⁵And you shall put oil on it, and lay frankincense on it. It is a grain offering.

¹⁶Then the priest shall burn the memorial portion: part of its beaten grain and part of its oil, with all the frankincense, as an offering made by fire to the LORD.

¹This will be the third time I am coming to you. “By the mouth of two or three witnesses every word shall be established.”

²I have told you before, and foretell as if I were present the second time, and now being absent I write to those who have sinned before, and to all the rest, that if I come again I will not spare—

³since you seek a proof of Christ speaking in me, who is not weak toward you, but mighty in you.

⁴For though He was crucified in weakness, yet He lives by the power of God. For we also are weak in Him, but we shall live with Him by the power of God toward you.

⁵Examine yourselves as to whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves. Do you not know yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you?—unless indeed you are disqualified.

⁶But I trust that you will know that we are not disqualified.

⁷Now I pray to God that you do no evil, not that we should appear approved, but that you should do what is honorable, though we may seem disqualified.

⁸For we can do nothing against the truth, but for the truth.

⁹For we are glad when we are weak and you are strong. And this also we pray, that you may be made complete.

¹⁰Therefore I write these things being absent, lest being present I should use sharpness, according to the authority which the Lord has given me for edification and not for destruction.

¹¹Finally, brethren, farewell. Become complete. Be of good comfort, be of one mind, 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 communion of the Holy Spirit be with you all. Amen.

¹Paul, a bondservant of God and an apostle of Jesus Christ, according to the faith of God’s elect and the acknowledgment of the truth which accords with godliness,

²in hope of eternal life which God, who cannot lie, promised before time began,

³but has in due time manifested His word through preaching, which was committed to me according to the commandment of God our Savior;

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

⁵For this reason I left you in Crete, that you should set in order the things that are lacking, and appoint elders in every city as I commanded you—

⁶if a man is blameless, the husband of one wife, having faithful children not accused of dissipation or insubordination.

⁷For a bishop must be blameless, as a steward of God, not self-willed, not quick-tempered, not given to wine, not violent, not greedy for money,

⁸but hospitable, a lover of what is good, sober-minded, just, holy, self-controlled,

⁹holding fast the faithful word as he has been taught, that he may be able, by sound doctrine, both to exhort and convict those who contradict.

¹⁰For there are many insubordinate, both idle talkers and deceivers, especially those of the circumcision,

¹¹whose mouths must be stopped, who subvert whole households, teaching things which they ought not, 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. Therefore rebuke them sharply, that they may be sound in the faith,

¹⁴not giving heed to Jewish fables and commandments of men who turn from the truth.

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

¹⁶They profess to know God, but in works they deny Him, being abominable, disobedient, and disqualified for every good work.

¹“I have made a covenant with my eyes; Why then should I look upon a young woman?

²For what is the allotment of God from above, And the inheritance of the Almighty from on high?

³Is it not destruction for the wicked, And disaster for the workers of iniquity?

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

⁵“If I have walked with falsehood, Or if my foot has hastened to deceit,

⁶Let me be weighed on honest scales, That God may know my integrity.

⁷If my step has turned from the way, Or my heart walked after my eyes, Or if any spot adheres to my hands,

⁸Then let me sow, and another eat; Yes, let my harvest be rooted out.

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

¹⁰Then let my wife grind for another, And let others bow down over her.

¹¹For that would be wickedness; Yes, it would be iniquity deserving of judgment.

¹²For that would be a fire that consumes to destruction, And would root out all my increase.

¹³“If I have despised the cause of my male or female servant When they complained against me,

¹⁴What then shall I do when God rises up? When He punishes, how shall I answer Him?

¹⁵Did not He who made me in the womb make them? Did not the same One fashion us in the womb?

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

¹⁷Or eaten my morsel by myself, So that the fatherless could not eat of it

¹⁸(But from my youth I reared him as a father, And from my mother’s womb I guided the widow);

¹⁹If I have seen anyone perish for lack of clothing, Or any poor man without covering;

²⁰If his heart has not blessed me, And if he was not warmed with the fleece of my sheep;

²¹If I have raised my hand against the fatherless, When I saw I had help in the gate;

²²Then let my arm fall from my shoulder, Let my arm be torn from the socket.

²³For destruction from God is a terror to me, And because of His magnificence I cannot endure.

²⁴“If I have made gold my hope, Or said to fine gold, ‘You are my confidence’;

²⁵If I have rejoiced because my wealth was great, And because my hand had gained much;

²⁶If I have observed the sun when it shines, Or the moon moving in brightness,

²⁷So that my heart has been secretly enticed, And my mouth has kissed my hand;

²⁸This also would be an iniquity deserving of judgment, For I would have denied God who is above.

²⁹“If I have rejoiced at the destruction of him who hated me, Or lifted myself up when evil found him

³⁰(Indeed I have not allowed my mouth to sin By asking for a curse on his soul);

³¹If the men of my tent have not said, ‘Who is there that has not been satisfied with his meat?’

³²(But no sojourner had to lodge in the street, For I have opened my doors to the traveler);

³³If I have covered my transgressions as Adam, By hiding my iniquity in my bosom,

³⁴Because I feared the great multitude, And dreaded the contempt of families, So that I kept silence And did not go out of the door—

³⁵Oh, that I had one to hear me! Here is my mark. Oh, that the Almighty would answer me, That my Prosecutor had written a book!

³⁶Surely I would carry it on my shoulder, And bind it on me like a crown;

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 caused its owners to lose their lives;

⁴⁰Then let thistles grow instead of wheat, And weeds instead of barley.” The words of Job are ended.

¹Song of Ascents. [1] “Many a time they have afflicted me from my youth,” Let Israel now say—

²“Many a time they have afflicted me from my youth; Yet they have not prevailed against me.

³The plowers plowed on my back; They made their furrows long.”

⁴The LORD is righteous; He has cut in pieces the cords of the wicked.

⁵Let all those who hate Zion Be put to shame and turned back.

⁶Let them be as the grass on the housetops, Which withers before it grows up,

⁷With which the reaper does not fill his hand, Nor he who binds sheaves, his arms.

⁸Neither let those who pass by them say, “The blessing of the LORD be upon you; We bless you in the name of the LORD!”

¹The words of King Lemuel, the utterance 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, Nor your ways to that which destroys kings.

⁴It is not for kings, O Lemuel, It is not for kings to drink wine, Nor for princes intoxicating drink;

⁵Lest they drink and forget the law, And pervert the justice of all the afflicted.

⁶Give strong drink to him who is perishing, And wine to those who are bitter of heart.

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

⁸Open your mouth for the speechless, In the cause of all who are appointed to die.

⁹Open your mouth, judge righteously, And plead the cause of the poor and needy.

¹⁰Who can find a virtuous wife? For her worth is far above rubies.

¹¹The heart of her husband safely trusts her; So he will have no lack of gain.

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

¹³She seeks wool and flax, And willingly works with her hands.

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

¹⁵She also rises while it is yet night, And provides food for her household, And a portion for her maidservants.

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

¹⁷She girds herself with strength, And strengthens her arms.

¹⁸She perceives that her merchandise is good, And her lamp does not go out by night.

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

²⁰She extends her hand to the poor, Yes, she reaches out her hands to the needy.

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

²²She makes tapestry 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 sashes for the merchants.

²⁵Strength and honor are her clothing; She shall rejoice in time to come.

²⁶She opens her mouth with wisdom, And on her tongue is the law of kindness.

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

²⁸Her children rise up and call her blessed; Her husband also, and he praises her:

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

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

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

¹Then the children of Israel did evil in the sight of the LORD. So the LORD delivered them into the hand of Midian for seven years,

²and the hand of Midian prevailed against Israel. Because of the Midianites, the children of Israel made for themselves the dens, the caves, and the strongholds which are in the mountains.

³So it was, whenever Israel had sown, Midianites would come up; also Amalekites and the people of the East would come up against them.

⁴Then they would encamp against them and destroy the produce of the earth as far as Gaza, and leave no sustenance for Israel, neither sheep nor ox nor donkey.

⁵For they would come up with their livestock and their tents, coming in as numerous as locusts; both they and their camels were without number; and they would enter the land to destroy it.

⁶So Israel was greatly impoverished because of the Midianites, and the children of Israel cried out to the LORD.

⁷And it came to pass, when the children of Israel cried out to the LORD because of the Midianites,

⁸that the LORD sent a prophet to the children of Israel, who said to them, “Thus says the LORD God of Israel: ‘I brought you up from Egypt and brought you out of the house of bondage;

⁹and I delivered you out of the hand of the Egyptians and out of the hand of all who oppressed you, and drove them out before you and gave you their land.

¹⁰Also I said to you, “I am the LORD your God; do not fear the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you dwell.” But you have not obeyed My voice.’ ”

¹¹Now the Angel of the LORD came and sat under the terebinth tree which was in Ophrah, which belonged to Joash the Abiezrite, while his son Gideon threshed wheat in the winepress, in order to hide it from the Midianites.

¹²And the Angel of the LORD appeared to him, and said to him, “The LORD is with you, you mighty man of valor!”

¹³Gideon 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 not the LORD bring us up from Egypt?’ But now the LORD has forsaken us and delivered us into the hands of the Midianites.”

¹⁴Then the LORD turned to him and said, “Go in this might of yours, and you shall save Israel from the hand of the Midianites. Have I not sent you?”

¹⁵So he said to Him, “O my Lord, how can I save Israel? Indeed my clan is the weakest in Manasseh, and I am the least in my father’s house.”

¹⁶And the LORD said to him, “Surely I will be with you, and you shall defeat the Midianites as one man.”

¹⁷Then he said to Him, “If now I have found favor in Your sight, then show me a sign that it is You who talk with me.

¹⁸Do not depart from here, I pray, until I come to You and bring out my offering and set it before You.” And He said, “I will wait until you come back.”

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

²⁰The 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 rose out of the rock and consumed the meat and the unleavened bread. And the Angel of the LORD departed out of his sight.

²²Now Gideon perceived that He was the Angel of the LORD. So Gideon said, “Alas, O Lord GOD! For I have seen the Angel of the LORD face to face.”

²³Then the LORD said to him, “Peace be with you; do not fear, you shall not die.”

²⁴So Gideon built an altar there to the LORD, and called it The-LORD-Is-Peace. To this day it is still in Ophrah of the Abiezrites.

²⁵Now it came to pass the same night that the LORD said to him, “Take your father’s young bull, the second bull of seven years old, and tear down the altar of Baal that your father has, and cut down the wooden image that is beside it;

²⁶and build an altar to the LORD your God on top of this rock in the proper arrangement, and take the second bull and offer a burnt sacrifice with the wood of the image which you shall cut down.”

²⁷So Gideon took ten men from among his servants and did as the LORD had said to him. But because he feared his father’s household and the men of the city too much to do it by day, he did it by night.

²⁸And when the men of the city arose early in the morning, there was the altar of Baal, torn down; and the wooden image that was beside it was cut down, and the second bull was being offered on the altar which had been built.

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

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

³¹But Joash said to all who stood against him, “Would you plead for Baal? Would you save him? Let the one who would plead for him be put to death by morning! If he is a god, let him plead for himself, because his altar has been torn down!”

³²Therefore on that day he called him Jerubbaal, saying, “Let Baal plead against him, because he has torn down his altar.”

³³Then all the Midianites and Amalekites, the people of the East, gathered together; and they crossed over and encamped in the Valley of Jezreel.

³⁴But the Spirit of the LORD came upon Gideon; then he blew the trumpet, and the Abiezrites gathered behind him.

³⁵And he sent messengers throughout all Manasseh, who also gathered behind him. He also sent messengers to Asher, Zebulun, and Naphtali; and they came up to meet them.

³⁶So Gideon said to God, “If You will save Israel by my hand as You have said—

³⁷look, I shall put 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 shall know that You will save Israel by my hand, as You have said.”

³⁸And it was so. When he rose early the next morning and squeezed the fleece together, he wrung the dew out of the fleece, a bowlful of water.

³⁹Then Gideon said to God, “Do not be angry with me, but let me speak just once more: Let me test, I pray, just once more with the fleece; let it now be dry only on the fleece, but on all the ground let there be dew.”

⁴⁰And God did so that night. It was dry on the fleece only, but there was dew on all the ground.

¹“Woe to Ariel, to Ariel, the city where David dwelt! Add year to year; Let feasts come around.

²Yet I will distress Ariel; There shall be heaviness and sorrow, And it shall be to Me as Ariel.

³I will encamp against you all around, I will lay siege against you with a mound, And I will raise siegeworks against you.

⁴You shall be brought down, You shall speak out of the ground; Your speech shall be low, out of the dust; Your voice shall be like a medium’s, out of the ground; And your speech shall whisper out of the dust.

⁵“Moreover the multitude of your foes Shall be like fine dust, And the multitude of the terrible ones Like chaff that passes away; Yes, it shall be in an instant, suddenly.

⁶You will be punished by the LORD of hosts With thunder and earthquake and great noise, With storm and tempest And the flame of devouring fire.

⁷The multitude of all the nations who fight against Ariel, Even all who fight against her and her fortress, And distress her, Shall be as a dream of a night vision.

⁸It shall even be as when a hungry man dreams, And look—he eats; But he awakes, and his soul is still empty; Or as when a thirsty man dreams, And look—he drinks; But he awakes, and indeed he is faint, And his soul still craves: So the multitude of all the nations shall be, Who fight against Mount Zion.”

⁹Pause and wonder! Blind yourselves and be blind! They are drunk, but not with wine; They stagger, but not with intoxicating drink.

¹⁰For the LORD has poured out on you The spirit of deep sleep, And has closed your eyes, namely, the prophets; And He has covered your heads, namely, the seers.

¹¹The whole vision has become to you like the words of a book that is sealed, which men deliver to one who is literate, saying, “Read this, please.” And he says, “I cannot, for it is sealed.”

¹²Then the book is delivered to one who is illiterate, saying, “Read this, please.” And he says, “I am not literate.”

¹³Therefore the Lord said: “Inasmuch as these people draw near with their mouths And honor Me with their lips, But have removed their hearts far from Me, And their fear toward Me is taught by the commandment of men,

¹⁴Therefore, behold, I will again do a marvelous work Among this people, A marvelous work and a wonder; For the wisdom of their wise men shall perish, And the understanding of their prudent men shall be hidden.”

¹⁵Woe to those who seek deep to hide their counsel far from the LORD, And their works are in the dark; They say, “Who sees us?” and, “Who knows us?”

¹⁶Surely you have things turned around! Shall the potter be esteemed as the clay; For shall the thing made say of him who made it, “He did not make me”? Or shall the thing formed say of him who formed it, “He has no understanding”?

¹⁷Is it not yet a very little while Till Lebanon shall be turned into a fruitful field, And the fruitful field be esteemed as a forest?

¹⁸In that day the deaf shall hear the words of the book, And the eyes of the blind shall see out of obscurity and out of darkness.

¹⁹The humble also shall increase their joy in the LORD, And the poor among men shall rejoice In the Holy One of Israel.

²⁰For the terrible one is brought to nothing, The scornful one is consumed, And all who watch for iniquity are cut off—

²¹Who make a man an offender by a word, And lay a snare for him who reproves in the gate, And turn aside the just by empty words.

²²Therefore thus says the LORD, who redeemed Abraham, concerning the house of Jacob: “Jacob shall not now be ashamed, Nor shall his face now grow pale;

²³But when he sees his children, The work of My hands, in his midst, They will hallow My name, And hallow the Holy One of Jacob, And fear the God of Israel.

²⁴These also who erred in spirit will come to understanding, And those who complained will learn doctrine.”

¹And when it was decided that we should sail to Italy, they delivered Paul and some other prisoners to one named Julius, a centurion of the Augustan Regiment.

²So, entering a ship of Adramyttium, we put to sea, meaning to sail along the coasts of Asia. Aristarchus, a Macedonian of Thessalonica, was with us.

³And the next day we landed at Sidon. And Julius treated Paul kindly and gave him liberty to go to his friends and receive care.

⁴When we had put to sea from there, we sailed under the shelter of Cyprus, because the winds were contrary.

⁵And when we had sailed over the sea which is off Cilicia and Pamphylia, we came to Myra, a city of Lycia.

⁶There the centurion found an Alexandrian ship sailing to Italy, and he put us on board.

⁷When we had sailed slowly many days, and arrived with difficulty off Cnidus, the wind not permitting us to proceed, we sailed under the shelter of Crete off Salmone.

⁸Passing it with difficulty, we came to a place called Fair Havens, near the city of Lasea.

⁹Now when much time had been spent, and sailing was now dangerous because the Fast was already over, Paul advised them,

¹⁰saying, “Men, I perceive that this voyage will end with disaster and much loss, not only of the cargo and ship, but also our lives.”

¹¹Nevertheless the centurion was more persuaded by the helmsman and the owner of the ship than by the things spoken by Paul.

¹²And because the harbor was not suitable to winter in, the majority advised to set sail from there also, if by any means they could reach Phoenix, a harbor of Crete opening toward the southwest and northwest, and winter there.

¹³When the south wind blew softly, supposing that they had obtained their desire, putting out to sea, they sailed close by Crete.

¹⁴But not long after, a tempestuous head wind arose, called Euroclydon.

¹⁵So when the ship was caught, and could not head into the wind, we let her drive.

¹⁶And running under the shelter of an island called Clauda, we secured the skiff with difficulty.

¹⁷When they had taken it on board, they used cables to undergird the ship; and fearing lest they should run aground on the Syrtis Sands, they struck sail and so were driven.

¹⁸And because we were exceedingly tempest-tossed, the next day they lightened the ship.

¹⁹On the third day we threw the ship’s tackle overboard with our own hands.

²⁰Now when neither sun nor stars appeared for many days, and no small tempest beat on us, all hope that we would be saved was finally given up.

²¹But after long abstinence from food, then Paul stood in the midst of them and said, “Men, you should have listened to me, and not have sailed from Crete and incurred this disaster and loss.

²²And now I urge you to take heart, for there will be no loss of life among you, but only of the ship.

²³For there stood by me this night an angel of the God to whom I belong and whom I serve,

²⁴saying, ‘Do not be afraid, Paul; you must be brought before Caesar; and indeed God has granted you all those who sail with you.’

²⁵Therefore take heart, men, for I believe God that it will be just as it was told me.

²⁶However, we must run aground on a certain island.”

²⁷Now when the fourteenth night had come, as we were driven up and down in the Adriatic Sea, about midnight the sailors sensed that they were drawing near some land.

²⁸And they took soundings and found it to be twenty fathoms; and when they had gone a little farther, they took soundings again and found it to be fifteen fathoms.

²⁹Then, fearing lest we should run aground on the rocks, they dropped four anchors from the stern, and prayed for day to come.

³⁰And as the sailors were seeking to escape from the ship, when they had let down the skiff into the sea, under pretense of putting out anchors from the prow,

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

³²Then the soldiers cut away the ropes of the skiff and let it fall off.

³³And as day was about to dawn, Paul implored them all to take food, saying, “Today is the fourteenth day you have waited and continued without food, and eaten nothing.

³⁴Therefore I urge you to take nourishment, for this is for your survival, since not a hair will fall from the head of any of you.”

³⁵And when he had said these things, he took bread and gave thanks to God in the presence of them all; and when he had broken it he began to eat.

³⁶Then they were all encouraged, and also took food themselves.

³⁷And in all we were two hundred and seventy-six persons on the ship.

³⁸So when they had eaten enough, they lightened the ship and threw out the wheat into the sea.

³⁹When it was day, they did not recognize the land; but they observed a bay with a beach, onto which they planned to run the ship if possible.

⁴⁰And they let go the anchors and left them in the sea, meanwhile loosing the rudder ropes; and they hoisted the mainsail to the wind and made for shore.

⁴¹But striking a place where two seas met, they ran the ship aground; and the prow stuck fast and remained immovable, but the stern was being broken up by the violence of the waves.

⁴²And the soldiers’ plan was to kill the prisoners, lest any of them should swim away and escape.

⁴³But the centurion, wanting to save Paul, kept them from their purpose, and commanded that those who could swim should jump overboard first and get to land,

⁴⁴and the rest, some on boards and some on parts of the ship. And so it was that they all escaped safely to land.