Professor Horner’s Reading Plan

¹When daybreak came, all the chief priests and the elders of the people plotted against Jesus to put him to death.

²After tying him up, they led him away and handed him over to Pilate, the governor.

³Then Judas, his betrayer, seeing that Jesus had been condemned, was full of remorse and returned the thirty pieces of silver to the chief priests and elders.

⁴“I have sinned by betraying innocent blood,” he said. “What’s that to us?” they said. “See to it yourself!”

⁵So he threw the silver into the temple and departed. Then he went and hanged himself.

⁶The chief priests took the silver and said, “It’s not permitted to put it into the temple treasury, since it is blood money.”

⁷They conferred together and bought the potter’s field with it as a burial place for foreigners.

⁸Therefore that field has been called “Blood Field” to this day.

⁹Then what was spoken through the prophet Jeremiah was fulfilled:They took the thirty pieces of silver, the price of him whose price was set by the Israelites,

¹⁰and they gave them for the potter’s field, as the Lord directed me.

¹¹Now Jesus stood before the governor. “Are you the King of the Jews?” the governor asked him. Jesus answered, “You say so.”

¹²While he was being accused by the chief priests and elders, he didn’t answer.

¹³Then Pilate said to him, “Don’t you hear how much they are testifying against you?”

¹⁴But he didn’t answer him on even one charge, so that the governor was quite amazed.

¹⁵At the festival the governor’s custom was to release to the crowd a prisoner they wanted.

¹⁶At that time they had a notorious prisoner called Barabbas.

¹⁷So when they had gathered together, Pilate said to them, “Who is it you want me to release for you — Barabbas, or Jesus who is called Christ?”

¹⁸For he knew it was because of envy that they had handed him over.

¹⁹While he was sitting on the judge’s bench, his wife sent word to him, “Have nothing to do with that righteous man, for today I’ve suffered terribly in a dream because of him.”

²⁰The chief priests and the elders, however, persuaded the crowds to ask for Barabbas and to execute Jesus.

²¹The governor asked them, “Which of the two do you want me to release for you?” “Barabbas!” they answered.

²²Pilate asked them, “What should I do then with Jesus, who is called Christ?” They all answered, “Crucify him!”

²³Then he said, “Why? What has he done wrong?” But they kept shouting all the more, “Crucify him!”

²⁴When Pilate saw that he was getting nowhere, but that a riot was starting instead, he took some water, washed his hands in front of the crowd, and said, “I am innocent of this man’s blood. See to it yourselves!”

²⁵All the people answered, “His blood be on us and on our children!”

²⁶Then he released Barabbas to them and, after having Jesus flogged, handed him over to be crucified.

²⁷Then the governor’s soldiers took Jesus into the governor’s residence and gathered the whole company around him.

²⁸They stripped him and dressed him in a scarlet robe.

²⁹They twisted together a crown of thorns, put it on his head, and placed a staff in his right hand. And they knelt down before him and mocked him: “Hail, King of the Jews!”

³⁰Then they spat on him, took the staff, and kept hitting him on the head.

³¹After they had mocked him, they stripped him of the robe, put his own clothes on him, and led him away to crucify him.

³²As they were going out, they found a Cyrenian man named Simon. They forced him to carry his cross.

³³When they came to a place called Golgotha (which means Place of the Skull),

³⁴they gave him wine mixed with gall to drink. But when he tasted it, he refused to drink it.

³⁵After crucifying him, they divided his clothes by casting lots.

³⁶Then they sat down and were guarding him there.

³⁷Above his head they put up the charge against him in writing: THIS IS JESUS, THE KING OF THE JEWS.

³⁸Then two criminals were crucified with him, one on the right and one on the left.

³⁹Those who passed by were yelling insults at him, shaking their heads

⁴⁰and saying, “You who would destroy the temple and rebuild it in three days, save yourself! If you are the Son of God, come down from the cross!”

⁴¹In the same way the chief priests, with the scribes and elders, mocked him and said,

⁴²“He saved others, but he cannot save himself! He is the King of Israel! Let him come down now from the cross, and we will believe in him.

⁴³He trusts in God; let God rescue him now — if he takes pleasure in him! For he said, ‘I am the Son of God.’”

⁴⁴In the same way even the criminals who were crucified with him taunted him.

⁴⁵From noon until three in the afternoon darkness came over the whole land.

⁴⁶About three in the afternoon Jesus cried out with a loud voice, “Elí, Elí, lemá sabachtháni?” that is, “My God, my God, why have you abandoned me?”

⁴⁷When some of those standing there heard this, they said, “He’s calling for Elijah.”

⁴⁸Immediately one of them ran and got a sponge, filled it with sour wine, put it on a stick, and offered him a drink.

⁴⁹But the rest said, “Let’s see if Elijah comes to save him.”

⁵⁰But Jesus cried out again with a loud voice and gave up his spirit.

⁵¹Suddenly, the curtain of the sanctuary was torn in two from top to bottom, the earth quaked, and the rocks were split.

⁵²The tombs were also opened and many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised.

⁵³And they came out of the tombs after his resurrection, entered the holy city, and appeared to many.

⁵⁴When the centurion and those with him, who were keeping watch over Jesus, saw the earthquake and the things that had happened, they were terrified and said, “Truly this man was the Son of God!”

⁵⁵Many women who had followed Jesus from Galilee and looked after him were there, watching from a distance.

⁵⁶Among them were Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James and Joseph, and the mother of Zebedee’s sons.

⁵⁷When it was evening, a rich man from Arimathea named Joseph came, who himself had also become a disciple of Jesus.

⁵⁸He approached Pilate and asked for Jesus’s body. Then Pilate ordered that it be released.

⁵⁹So Joseph took the body, wrapped it in clean, fine linen,

⁶⁰and placed it in his new tomb, which he had cut into the rock. He left after rolling a great stone against the entrance of the tomb.

⁶¹Mary Magdalene and the other Mary were seated there, facing the tomb.

⁶²The next day, which followed the preparation day, the chief priests and the Pharisees gathered before Pilate

⁶³and said, “Sir, we remember that while this deceiver was still alive he said, ‘After three days I will rise again.’

⁶⁴So give orders that the tomb be made secure until the third day. Otherwise, his disciples may come, steal him, and tell the people, ‘He has been raised from the dead,’ and the last deception will be worse than the first.”

⁶⁵“You have a guard of soldiers,” Pilate told them. “Go and make it as secure as you know how.”

⁶⁶They went and secured the tomb by setting a seal on the stone and placing the guard.

¹When Isaac was old and his eyes were so weak that he could not see, he called his older son Esau and said to him, “My son.” And he answered, “Here I am.”

²He said, “Look, I am old and do not know the day of my death.

³So now take your hunting gear, your quiver and bow, and go out in the field to hunt some game for me.

⁴Then make me a delicious meal that I love and bring it to me to eat, so that I can bless you before I die.”

⁵Now Rebekah was listening to what Isaac said to his son Esau. So while Esau went to the field to hunt some game to bring in,

⁶Rebekah said to her son Jacob, “Listen! I heard your father talking with your brother Esau. He said,

⁷‘Bring me game and make a delicious meal for me to eat so that I can bless you in the LORD’s presence before I die.’

⁸Now, my son, listen to me and do what I tell you.

⁹Go to the flock and bring me two choice young goats, and I will make them into a delicious meal for your father — the kind he loves.

¹⁰Then take it to your father to eat so that he may bless you before he dies.”

¹¹Jacob answered Rebekah his mother, “Look, my brother Esau is a hairy man, but I am a man with smooth skin.

¹²Suppose my father touches me. Then I will be revealed to him as a deceiver and bring a curse rather than a blessing on myself.”

¹³His mother said to him, “Your curse be on me, my son. Just obey me and go get them for me.”

¹⁴So he went and got the goats and brought them to his mother, and his mother made the delicious food his father loved.

¹⁵Then Rebekah took the best clothes of her older son Esau, which were in the house, and had her younger son Jacob wear them.

¹⁶She put the skins of the young goats on his hands and the smooth part of his neck.

¹⁷Then she handed the delicious food and the bread she had made to her son Jacob.

¹⁸When he came to his father, he said, “My father.” And he answered, “Here I am. Who are you, my son?”

¹⁹Jacob replied to his father, “I am Esau, your firstborn. I have done as you told me. Please sit up and eat some of my game so that you may bless me.”

²⁰But Isaac said to his son, “How did you ever find it so quickly, my son?” He replied, “Because the LORD your God made it happen for me.”

²¹Then Isaac said to Jacob, “Please come closer so I can touch you, my son. Are you really my son Esau or not?”

²²So Jacob came closer to his father Isaac. When he touched him, he said, “The voice is the voice of Jacob, but the hands are the hands of Esau.”

²³He did not recognize him, because his hands were hairy like those of his brother Esau; so he blessed him.

²⁴Again he asked, “Are you really my son Esau?” And he replied, “I am.”

²⁵Then he said, “Bring it closer to me, and let me eat some of my son’s game so that I can bless you.” Jacob brought it closer to him, and he ate; he brought him wine, and he drank.

²⁶Then his father Isaac said to him, “Please come closer and kiss me, my son.”

²⁷So he came closer and kissed him. When Isaac smelled his clothes, he blessed him and said: Ah, the smell of my son is like the smell of a field that the LORD has blessed.

²⁸May God give to you — from the dew of the sky and from the richness of the land  — an abundance of grain and new wine.

²⁹May peoples serve you and nations bow in worship to you. Be master over your relatives; may your mother’s sons bow in worship to you. Those who curse you will be cursed, and those who bless you will be blessed.

³⁰As soon as Isaac had finished blessing Jacob and Jacob had left the presence of his father Isaac, his brother Esau arrived from his hunting.

³¹He had also made some delicious food and brought it to his father. He said to his father, “Let my father get up and eat some of his son’s game, so that you may bless me.”

³²But his father Isaac said to him, “Who are you?” He answered, “I am Esau your firstborn son.”

³³Isaac began to tremble uncontrollably. “Who was it then,” he said, “who hunted game and brought it to me? I ate it all before you came in, and I blessed him. Indeed, he will be blessed!”

³⁴When Esau heard his father’s words, he cried out with a loud and bitter cry and said to his father, “Bless me too, my father!”

³⁵But he replied, “Your brother came deceitfully and took your blessing.”

³⁶So he said, “Isn’t he rightly named Jacob? For he has cheated me twice now. He took my birthright, and look, now he has taken my blessing.” Then he asked, “Haven’t you saved a blessing for me?”

³⁷But Isaac answered Esau, “Look, I have made him a master over you, have given him all of his relatives as his servants, and have sustained him with grain and new wine. What then can I do for you, my son?”

³⁸Esau said to his father, “Do you have only one blessing, my father? Bless me too, my father!” And Esau wept loudly.

³⁹His father Isaac answered him, Look, your dwelling place will be away from the richness of the land, away from the dew of the sky above.

⁴⁰You will live by your sword, and you will serve your brother. But when you rebel, you will break his yoke from your neck.

⁴¹Esau held a grudge against Jacob because of the blessing his father had given him. And Esau determined in his heart: “The days of mourning for my father are approaching; then I will kill my brother Jacob.”

⁴²When the words of her older son Esau were reported to Rebekah, she summoned her younger son Jacob and said to him, “Listen, your brother Esau is consoling himself by planning to kill you.

⁴³So now, my son, listen to me. Flee at once to my brother Laban in Haran,

⁴⁴and stay with him for a few days until your brother’s anger subsides —

⁴⁵until your brother’s rage turns away from you and he forgets what you have done to him. Then I will send for you and bring you back from there. Why should I lose you both in one day?”

⁴⁶So Rebekah said to Isaac, “I’m sick of my life because of these Hethite girls. If Jacob marries someone from around here, like these Hethite girls, what good is my life?”

¹Imitate me, as I also imitate Christ.

²Now I praise you because you remember me in everything and hold fast to the traditions just as I delivered them to you.

³But I want you to know that Christ is the head of every man, and the man is the head of the woman, and God is the head of Christ.

⁴Every man who prays or prophesies with something on his head dishonors his head.

⁵Every woman who prays or prophesies with her head uncovered dishonors her head, since that is one and the same as having her head shaved.

⁶For if a woman doesn’t cover her head, she should have her hair cut off. But if it is disgraceful for a woman to have her hair cut off or her head shaved, let her head be covered.

⁷A man should not cover his head, because he is the image and glory of God. So too, woman is the glory of man.

⁸For man did not come from woman, but woman came from man.

⁹Neither was man created for the sake of woman, but woman for the sake of man.

¹⁰This is why a woman should have a symbol of authority on her head, because of the angels.

¹¹In the Lord, however, woman is not independent of man, and man is not independent of woman.

¹²For just as woman came from man, so man comes through woman, and all things come from God.

¹³Judge for yourselves: Is it proper for a woman to pray to God with her head uncovered?

¹⁴Does not even nature itself teach you that if a man has long hair it is a disgrace to him,

¹⁵but that if a woman has long hair, it is her glory? For her hair is given to her as a covering.

¹⁶If anyone wants to argue about this, we have no other custom, nor do the churches of God.

¹⁷Now in giving this instruction I do not praise you, since you come together not for the better but for the worse.

¹⁸For to begin with, I hear that when you come together as a church there are divisions among you, and in part I believe it.

¹⁹Indeed, it is necessary that there be factions among you, so that those who are approved may be recognized among you.

²⁰When you come together, then, it is not to eat the Lord’s Supper.

²¹For at the meal, each one eats his own supper. So one person is hungry while another gets drunk!

²²Don’t you have homes in which to eat and drink? Or do you despise the church of God and humiliate those who have nothing? What should I say to you? Should I praise you? I do not praise you in this matter!

²³For I received from the Lord what I also passed on to you: On the night when he was betrayed, the Lord Jesus took bread,

²⁴and when he had given thanks, broke it, and said, “This is my body, which is for you. Do this in remembrance of me.”

²⁵In the same way also he took the cup, after supper, and said, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.”

²⁶For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.

²⁷So then, whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of sin against the body and blood of the Lord.

²⁸Let a person examine himself; in this way let him eat the bread and drink from the cup.

²⁹For whoever eats and drinks without recognizing the body, eats and drinks judgment on himself.

³⁰This is why many are sick and ill among you, and many have fallen asleep.

³¹If we were properly judging ourselves, we would not be judged,

³²but when we are judged by the Lord, we are disciplined, so that we may not be condemned with the world.

³³Therefore, my brothers and sisters, when you come together to eat, welcome one another.

³⁴If anyone is hungry, he should eat at home, so that when you gather together you will not come under judgment. I will give instructions about the other matters whenever I come.

¹Come now, you rich people, weep and wail over the miseries that are coming on you.

²Your wealth has rotted and your clothes are moth-eaten.

³Your gold and silver are corroded, and their corrosion will be a witness against you and will eat your flesh like fire. You have stored up treasure in the last days.

⁴Look! The pay that you withheld from the workers who mowed your fields cries out, and the outcry of the harvesters has reached the ears of the Lord of Hosts.

⁵You have lived luxuriously on the earth and have indulged yourselves. You have fattened your hearts in a day of slaughter.

⁶You have condemned, you have murdered the righteous, who does not resist you.

⁷Therefore, brothers and sisters, be patient until the Lord’s coming. See how the farmer waits for the precious fruit of the earth and is patient with it until it receives the early and the late rains.

⁸You also must be patient. Strengthen your hearts, because the Lord’s coming is near.

⁹Brothers and sisters, do not complain about one another, so that you will not be judged. Look, the judge stands at the door!

¹⁰Brothers and sisters, take the prophets who spoke in the Lord’s name as an example of suffering and patience.

¹¹See, we count as blessed those who have endured. You have heard of Job’s endurance and have seen the outcome that the Lord brought about — the Lord is compassionate and merciful.

¹²Above all, my brothers and sisters, do not swear, either by heaven or by earth or with any other oath. But let your “yes” mean “yes,” and your “no” mean “no,” so that you won’t fall under judgment.

¹³Is anyone among you suffering? He should pray. Is anyone cheerful? He should sing praises.

¹⁴Is anyone among you sick? He should call for the elders of the church, and they are to pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord.

¹⁵The prayer of faith will save the sick person, and the Lord will raise him up; if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven.

¹⁶Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person is very powerful in its effect.

¹⁷Elijah was a human being as we are, and he prayed earnestly that it would not rain, and for three years and six months it did not rain on the land.

¹⁸Then he prayed again, and the sky gave rain and the land produced its fruit.

¹⁹My brothers and sisters, if any among you strays from the truth, and someone turns him back,

²⁰let that person know that whoever turns a sinner from the error of his way will save his soul from death and cover a multitude of sins.

¹Job continued his discourse, saying:

²As God lives, who has deprived me of justice, and the Almighty who has made me bitter,

³as long as my breath is still in me and the breath from God remains in my nostrils,

⁴my lips will not speak unjustly, and my tongue will not utter deceit.

⁵I will never affirm that you are right. I will maintain my integrity until I die.

⁶I will cling to my righteousness and never let it go. My conscience will not accuse me as long as I live!

⁷May my enemy be like the wicked and my opponent like the unjust.

⁸For what hope does the godless person have when he is cut off, when God takes away his life?

⁹Will God hear his cry when distress comes on him?

¹⁰Will he delight in the Almighty? Will he call on God at all times?

¹¹I will teach you about God’s power. I will not conceal what the Almighty has planned.

¹²All of you have seen this for yourselves, why do you keep up this empty talk?

¹³This is a wicked man’s lot from God, the inheritance the ruthless receive from the Almighty.

¹⁴Even if his children increase, they are destined for the sword; his descendants will never have enough food.

¹⁵Those who survive him will be buried by the plague, yet their widows will not weep for them.

¹⁶Though he piles up silver like dust and heaps up fine clothing like clay —

¹⁷he may heap it up, but the righteous will wear it, and the innocent will divide up his silver.

¹⁸The house he built is like a moth’s cocoon or a shelter set up by a watchman.

¹⁹He lies down wealthy, but will do so no more; when he opens his eyes, it is gone.

²⁰Terrors overtake him like a flood; a storm wind sweeps him away at night.

²¹An east wind picks him up, and he is gone; it carries him away from his place.

²²It blasts at him without mercy, while he flees desperately from its force.

²³It claps its hands at him and scoffs at him from its place.

¹Of David. [1] The LORD is my light and my salvation — whom should I fear? The LORD is the stronghold of my life — whom should I dread?

²When evildoers came against me to devour my flesh, my foes and my enemies stumbled and fell.

³Though an army deploys against me, my heart will not be afraid; though a war breaks out against me, I will still be confident.

⁴I have asked one thing from the LORD; it is what I desire: to dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, gazing on the beauty of the LORD and seeking him in his temple.

⁵For he will conceal me in his shelter in the day of adversity; he will hide me under the cover of his tent; he will set me high on a rock.

⁶Then my head will be high above my enemies around me; I will offer sacrifices in his tent with shouts of joy. I will sing and make music to the LORD.

⁷LORD, hear my voice when I call; be gracious to me and answer me.

⁸My heart says this about you: “Seek his face.” LORD, I will seek your face.

⁹Do not hide your face from me; do not turn your servant away in anger. You have been my helper; do not leave me or abandon me, God of my salvation.

¹⁰Even if my father and mother abandon me, the LORD cares for me.

¹¹Because of my adversaries, show me your way, LORD, and lead me on a level path.

¹²Do not give me over to the will of my foes, for false witnesses rise up against me, breathing violence.

¹³I am certain that I will see the LORD’s goodness in the land of the living.

¹⁴Wait for the LORD; be strong, and let your heart be courageous. Wait for the LORD.

¹Don’t boast about tomorrow, for you don’t know what a day might bring.

²Let another praise you, and not your own mouth — a stranger, and not your own lips.

³A stone is heavy and sand, a burden, but aggravation from a fool outweighs them both.

⁴Fury is cruel, and anger a flood, but who can withstand jealousy?

⁵Better an open reprimand than concealed love.

⁶The wounds of a friend are trustworthy, but the kisses of an enemy are excessive.

⁷A person who is full tramples on a honeycomb, but to a hungry person, any bitter thing is sweet.

⁸Anyone wandering from his home is like a bird wandering from its nest.

⁹Oil and incense bring joy to the heart, and the sweetness of a friend is better than self-counsel.

¹⁰Don’t abandon your friend or your father’s friend, and don’t go to your brother’s house in your time of calamity; better a neighbor nearby than a brother far away.

¹¹Be wise, my son, and bring my heart joy, so that I can answer anyone who taunts me.

¹²A sensible person sees danger and takes cover; the inexperienced keep going and are punished.

¹³Take his garment, for he has put up security for a stranger; get collateral if it is for foreigners.

¹⁴If one blesses his neighbor with a loud voice early in the morning, it will be counted as a curse to him.

¹⁵An endless dripping on a rainy day and a nagging wife are alike;

¹⁶the one who controls her controls the wind and grasps oil with his right hand.

¹⁷Iron sharpens iron, and one person sharpens another.

¹⁸Whoever tends a fig tree will eat its fruit, and whoever looks after his master will be honored.

¹⁹As water reflects the face, so the heart reflects the person.

²⁰Sheol and Abaddon are never satisfied, and people’s eyes are never satisfied.

²¹A crucible refines silver, a smelter refines gold, and a person refines his praise.

²²Though you grind a fool in a mortar with a pestle along with grain, you will not separate his foolishness from him.

²³Know well the condition of your flock, and pay attention to your herds,

²⁴for wealth is not forever; not even a crown lasts for all time.

²⁵When hay is removed and new growth appears and the grain from the hills is gathered in,

²⁶lambs will provide your clothing, and goats, the price of a field;

²⁷there will be enough goat’s milk for your food — food for your household and nourishment for your female servants.

¹These are the nations the LORD left in order to test all those in Israel who had experienced none of the wars in Canaan.

²This was to teach the future generations of the Israelites how to fight in battle, especially those who had not fought before.

³These nations included the five rulers of the Philistines and all of the Canaanites, the Sidonians, and the Hivites who lived in the Lebanese mountains from Mount Baal-hermon as far as the entrance to Hamath.

⁴The LORD left them to test Israel, to determine if they would keep the LORD’s commands he had given their fathers through Moses.

⁵But they settled among the Canaanites, Hethites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites.

⁶The Israelites took their daughters as wives for themselves, gave their own daughters to their sons, and worshiped their gods.

⁷The Israelites did what was evil in the LORD’s sight; they forgot the LORD their God and worshiped the Baals and the Asherahs.

⁸The LORD’s anger burned against Israel, and he sold them to King Cushan-rishathaim of Aram-naharaim, and the Israelites served him eight years.

⁹The Israelites cried out to the LORD. So the LORD raised up Othniel son of Kenaz, Caleb’s youngest brother, as a deliverer to save the Israelites.

¹⁰The Spirit of the LORD came on him, and he judged Israel. Othniel went out to battle, and the LORD handed over King Cushan-rishathaim of Aram to him, so that Othniel overpowered him.

¹¹Then the land had peace for forty years, and Othniel son of Kenaz died.

¹²The Israelites again did what was evil in the LORD’s sight. He gave King Eglon of Moab power over Israel, because they had done what was evil in the LORD’s sight.

¹³After Eglon convinced the Ammonites and the Amalekites to join forces with him, he attacked and defeated Israel and took possession of the City of Palms.

¹⁴The Israelites served King Eglon of Moab eighteen years.

¹⁵Then the Israelites cried out to the LORD, and he raised up Ehud son of Gera, a left-handed Benjaminite, as a deliverer for them. The Israelites sent him with the tribute for King Eglon of Moab.

¹⁶Ehud made himself a double-edged sword eighteen inches long. He strapped it to his right thigh under his clothes

¹⁷and brought the tribute to King Eglon of Moab, who was an extremely fat man.

¹⁸When Ehud had finished presenting the tribute, he dismissed the people who had carried it.

¹⁹At the carved images near Gilgal he returned and said, “King Eglon, I have a secret message for you.” The king said, “Silence!” and all his attendants left him.

²⁰Then Ehud approached him while he was sitting alone in his upstairs room where it was cool. Ehud said, “I have a message from God for you,” and the king stood up from his throne.

²¹Ehud reached with his left hand, took the sword from his right thigh, and plunged it into Eglon’s belly.

²²Even the handle went in after the blade, and Eglon’s fat closed in over it, so that Ehud did not withdraw the sword from his belly. And the waste came out.

²³Ehud escaped by way of the porch, closing and locking the doors of the upstairs room behind him.

²⁴Ehud was gone when Eglon’s servants came in. They looked and found the doors of the upstairs room locked and thought he was relieving himself in the cool room.

²⁵The servants waited until they became embarrassed and saw that he had still not opened the doors of the upstairs room. So they took the key and opened the doors — and there was their lord lying dead on the floor!

²⁶Ehud escaped while the servants waited. He passed the Jordan near the carved images and reached Seirah.

²⁷After he arrived, he sounded the ram’s horn throughout the hill country of Ephraim. The Israelites came down with him from the hill country, and he became their leader.

²⁸He told them, “Follow me, because the LORD has handed over your enemies, the Moabites, to you.” So they followed him, captured the fords of the Jordan leading to Moab, and did not allow anyone to cross over.

²⁹At that time they struck down about ten thousand Moabites, all stout and able-bodied men. Not one of them escaped.

³⁰Moab became subject to Israel that day, and the land had peace for eighty years.

³¹After Ehud, Shamgar son of Anath became judge. He also delivered Israel, striking down six hundred Philistines with a cattle prod.

¹On that day the LORD with his relentless, large, strong sword will bring judgment on Leviathan, the fleeing serpent — Leviathan, the twisting serpent. He will slay the monster that is in the sea.

²On that day sing about a desirable vineyard:

³I am the LORD, who watches over it to water it regularly. So that no one disturbs it, I watch over it night and day.

⁴I am not angry. If only there were thorns and briers for me to battle, I would trample them and burn them to the ground.

⁵Or let it take hold of my strength; let it make peace with me — make peace with me.

⁶In days to come, Jacob will take root. Israel will blossom and bloom and fill the whole world with fruit.

⁷Did the LORD strike Israel as he struck the one who struck Israel? Was Israel killed like those killed by the LORD?

⁸You disputed with Israel by banishing and driving her away. He removed her with his severe storm on the day of the east wind.

⁹Therefore Jacob’s iniquity will be atoned for in this way, and the result of the removal of his sin will be this: when he makes all the altar stones like crushed bits of chalk, no Asherah poles or incense altars will remain standing.

¹⁰For the fortified city will be desolate, pastures deserted and abandoned like a wilderness. Calves will graze there, and there they will spread out and strip its branches.

¹¹When its branches dry out, they will be broken off. Women will come and make fires with them, for they are not a people with understanding. Therefore their Maker will not have compassion on them, and their Creator will not be gracious to them.

¹²On that day the LORD will thresh grain from the Euphrates River as far as the Wadi of Egypt, and you Israelites will be gathered one by one.

¹³On that day a great trumpet will be blown, and those lost in the land of Assyria will come, as well as those dispersed in the land of Egypt; and they will worship the LORD at Jerusalem on the holy mountain.

¹When it was decided that we were to sail to Italy, they handed over Paul and some other prisoners to a centurion named Julius, of the Imperial Regiment.

²When we had boarded a ship of Adramyttium, we put to sea, intending to sail to ports along the coast of Asia. Aristarchus, a Macedonian of Thessalonica, was with us.

³The next day we put in at Sidon, and Julius treated Paul kindly and allowed him to go to his friends to receive their care.

⁴When we had put out to sea from there, we sailed along the northern coast of Cyprus because the winds were against us.

⁵After sailing through the open sea off Cilicia and Pamphylia, we reached Myra in Lycia.

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

⁷Sailing slowly for many days, with difficulty we arrived off Cnidus. Since the wind did not allow us to approach it, we sailed along the south side of Crete off Salmone.

⁸With still more difficulty we sailed along the coast and came to a place called Fair Havens near the city of Lasea.

⁹By now much time had passed, and the voyage was already dangerous. Since the Day of Atonement was already over, Paul gave his advice

¹⁰and told them, “Men, I can see that this voyage is headed toward disaster and heavy loss, not only of the cargo and the ship but also of our lives.”

¹¹But the centurion paid attention to the captain and the owner of the ship rather than to what Paul said.

¹²Since the harbor was unsuitable to winter in, the majority decided to set sail from there, hoping somehow to reach Phoenix, a harbor on Crete facing the southwest and northwest, and to winter there.

¹³When a gentle south wind sprang up, they thought they had achieved their purpose. They weighed anchor and sailed along the shore of Crete.

¹⁴But before long, a fierce wind called the “northeaster” rushed down from the island.

¹⁵Since the ship was caught and unable to head into the wind, we gave way to it and were driven along.

¹⁶After running under the shelter of a little island called Cauda, we were barely able to get control of the skiff.

¹⁷After hoisting it up, they used ropes and tackle and girded the ship. Fearing they would run aground on the Syrtis, they lowered the drift-anchor, and in this way they were driven along.

¹⁸Because we were being severely battered by the storm, they began to jettison the cargo the next day.

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

²⁰For many days neither sun nor stars appeared, and the severe storm kept raging. Finally all hope was fading that we would be saved.

²¹Since they had been without food for a long time, Paul then stood up among them and said, “You men should have followed my advice not to sail from Crete and sustain this damage and loss.

²²Now I urge you to take courage, because there will be no loss of any of your lives, but only of the ship.

²³For last night an angel of the God I belong to and serve stood by me

²⁴and said, ‘Don’t be afraid, Paul. It is necessary for you to appear before Caesar. And indeed, God has graciously given you all those who are sailing with you.’

²⁵So take courage, men, because I believe God that it will be just the way it was told to me.

²⁶But we have to run aground on some island.”

²⁷When the fourteenth night came, we were drifting in the Adriatic Sea, and about midnight the sailors thought they were approaching land.

²⁸They took soundings and found it to be a hundred and twenty feet deep; when they had sailed a little farther and sounded again, they found it to be ninety feet deep.

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

³⁰Some sailors tried to escape from the ship; they had let down the skiff into the sea, pretending that they were going to put out anchors from the bow.

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

³²Then the soldiers cut the ropes holding the skiff and let it drop away.

³³When it was about daylight, Paul urged them all to take food, saying, “Today is the fourteenth day that you have been waiting and going without food, having eaten nothing.

³⁴So I urge you to take some food. For this is for your survival, since none of you will lose a hair from your head.”

³⁵After he said these things and had taken some bread, he gave thanks to God in the presence of all of them, and after he broke it, he began to eat.

³⁶They all were encouraged and took food themselves.

³⁷In all there were 276 of us on the ship.

³⁸When they had eaten enough, they began to lighten the ship by throwing the grain overboard into the sea.

³⁹When daylight came, they did not recognize the land but sighted a bay with a beach. They planned to run the ship ashore if they could.

⁴⁰After cutting loose the anchors, they left them in the sea, at the same time loosening the ropes that held the rudders. Then they hoisted the foresail to the wind and headed for the beach.

⁴¹But they struck a sandbar and ran the ship aground. The bow jammed fast and remained immovable, while the stern began to break up by the pounding of the waves.

⁴²The soldiers’ plan was to kill the prisoners so that no one could swim away and escape.

⁴³But the centurion kept them from carrying out their plan because he wanted to save Paul, and so he ordered those who could swim to jump overboard first and get to land.

⁴⁴The rest were to follow, some on planks and some on debris from the ship. In this way, everyone safely reached the shore.