Professor Horner’s Reading Plan

¹Early in the morning, all the chief priests and the elders of the people made their plans how to have Jesus executed.

²So they bound him, led him away and handed him over to Pilate the governor.

³When Judas, who had betrayed him, saw that Jesus was condemned, he was seized with remorse and returned the thirty pieces of silver to the chief priests and the elders.

⁴“I have sinned,” he said, “for I have betrayed innocent blood.” “What is that to us?” they replied. “That’s your responsibility.”

⁵So Judas threw the money into the temple and left. Then he went away and hanged himself.

⁶The chief priests picked up the coins and said, “It is against the law to put this into the treasury, since it is blood money.”

⁷So they decided to use the money to buy the potter’s field as a burial place for foreigners.

⁸That is why it has been called the Field of Blood to this day.

⁹Then what was spoken by Jeremiah the prophet was fulfilled: “They took the thirty pieces of silver, the price set on him by the people of Israel,

¹⁰and they used them to buy the potter’s field, as the Lord commanded me.”

¹¹Meanwhile Jesus stood before the governor, and the governor asked him, “Are you the king of the Jews?” “You have said so,” Jesus replied.

¹²When he was accused by the chief priests and the elders, he gave no answer.

¹³Then Pilate asked him, “Don’t you hear the testimony they are bringing against you?”

¹⁴But Jesus made no reply, not even to a single charge—to the great amazement of the governor.

¹⁵Now it was the governor’s custom at the festival to release a prisoner chosen by the crowd.

¹⁶At that time they had a well-known prisoner whose name was Jesus Barabbas.

¹⁷So when the crowd had gathered, Pilate asked them, “Which one do you want me to release to you: Jesus Barabbas, or Jesus who is called the Messiah?”

¹⁸For he knew it was out of self-interest that they had handed Jesus over to him.

¹⁹While Pilate was sitting on the judge’s seat, his wife sent him this message: “Don’t have anything to do with that innocent man, for I have suffered a great deal today in a dream because of him.”

²⁰But the chief priests and the elders persuaded the crowd to ask for Barabbas and to have Jesus executed.

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

²²“What shall I do, then, with Jesus who is called the Messiah?” Pilate asked. They all answered, “Crucify him!”

²³“Why? What crime has he committed?” asked Pilate. But they shouted all the louder, “Crucify him!”

²⁴When Pilate saw that he was getting nowhere, but that instead an uproar was starting, he took water and washed his hands in front of the crowd. “I am innocent of this man’s blood,” he said. “It is your responsibility!”

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

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

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

²⁸They stripped him and put a scarlet robe on him,

²⁹and then twisted together a crown of thorns and set it on his head. They put a staff in his right hand. Then they knelt in front of him and mocked him. “Hail, king of the Jews!” they said.

³⁰They spit on him, and took the staff and struck him on the head again and again.

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

³²As they were going out, they met a man from Cyrene, named Simon, and they forced him to carry the cross.

³³They came to a place called Golgotha (which means “the place of the skull”).

³⁴There they offered Jesus wine to drink, mixed with gall; but after tasting it, he refused to drink it.

³⁵When they had crucified him, they divided up his clothes by casting lots.

³⁶And sitting down, they kept watch over him there.

³⁷Above his head they placed the written charge against him: THIS IS JESUS, THE KING OF THE JEWS.

³⁸Two rebels were crucified with him, one on his right and one on his left.

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

⁴⁰and saying, “You who are going to destroy the temple and build it in three days, save yourself! Come down from the cross, if you are the Son of God!”

⁴¹In the same way the chief priests, the teachers of the law and the elders mocked him.

⁴²“He saved others,” they said, “but he can’t save himself! He’s 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 wants him, for he said, ‘I am the Son of God.’ ”

⁴⁴In the same way the rebels who were crucified with him also heaped insults on him.

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

⁴⁶About three in the afternoon Jesus cried out in a loud voice, “Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?” (which means “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”).

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

⁴⁸Immediately one of them ran and got a sponge. He filled it with wine vinegar, put it on a staff, and offered it to Jesus to drink.

⁴⁹The rest said, “Now leave him alone. Let’s see if Elijah comes to save him.”

⁵⁰And when Jesus had cried out again in a loud voice, he gave up his spirit.

⁵¹At that moment the curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. The earth shook, the rocks split

⁵²and the tombs broke open. The bodies of many holy people who had died were raised to life.

⁵³They came out of the tombs after Jesus’ resurrection and went into the holy city and appeared to many people.

⁵⁴When the centurion and those with him who were guarding Jesus saw the earthquake and all that had happened, they were terrified, and exclaimed, “Surely he was the Son of God!”

⁵⁵Many women were there, watching from a distance. They had followed Jesus from Galilee to care for his needs.

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

⁵⁷As evening approached, there came a rich man from Arimathea, named Joseph, who had himself become a disciple of Jesus.

⁵⁸Going to Pilate, he asked for Jesus’ body, and Pilate ordered that it be given to him.

⁵⁹Joseph took the body, wrapped it in a clean linen cloth,

⁶⁰and placed it in his own new tomb that he had cut out of the rock. He rolled a big stone in front of the entrance to the tomb and went away.

⁶¹Mary Magdalene and the other Mary were sitting there opposite the tomb.

⁶²The next day, the one after Preparation Day, the chief priests and the Pharisees went to Pilate.

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

⁶⁴So give the order for the tomb to be made secure until the third day. Otherwise, his disciples may come and steal the body and tell the people that he has been raised from the dead. This last deception will be worse than the first.”

⁶⁵“Take a guard,” Pilate answered. “Go, make the tomb as secure as you know how.”

⁶⁶So they went and made the tomb secure by putting a seal on the stone and posting the guard.

¹When Isaac was old and his eyes were so weak that he could no longer see, he called for Esau his older son and said to him, “My son.” “Here I am,” he answered.

²Isaac said, “I am now an old man and don’t know the day of my death.

³Now then, get your equipment—your quiver and bow—and go out to the open country to hunt some wild game for me.

⁴Prepare me the kind of tasty food I like and bring it to me to eat, so that I may give you my blessing before I die.”

⁵Now Rebekah was listening as Isaac spoke to his son Esau. When Esau left for the open country to hunt game and bring it back,

⁶Rebekah said to her son Jacob, “Look, I overheard your father say to your brother Esau,

⁷‘Bring me some game and prepare me some tasty food to eat, so that I may give you my blessing in the presence of the LORD before I die.’

⁸Now, my son, listen carefully and do what I tell you:

⁹Go out to the flock and bring me two choice young goats, so I can prepare some tasty food for your father, just the way he likes it.

¹⁰Then take it to your father to eat, so that he may give you his blessing before he dies.”

¹¹Jacob said to Rebekah his mother, “But my brother Esau is a hairy man while I have smooth skin.

¹²What if my father touches me? I would appear to be tricking him and would bring down a curse on myself rather than a blessing.”

¹³His mother said to him, “My son, let the curse fall on me. Just do what I say; go and get them for me.”

¹⁴So he went and got them and brought them to his mother, and she prepared some tasty food, just the way his father liked it.

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

¹⁶She also covered his hands and the smooth part of his neck with the goatskins.

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

¹⁸He went to his father and said, “My father.” “Yes, my son,” he answered. “Who is it?”

¹⁹Jacob said 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 give me your blessing.”

²⁰Isaac asked his son, “How did you find it so quickly, my son?” “The LORD your God gave me success,” he replied.

²¹Then Isaac said to Jacob, “Come near so I can touch you, my son, to know whether you really are my son Esau or not.”

²²Jacob went close to his father Isaac, who touched him and said, “The voice is the voice of Jacob, but the hands are the hands of Esau.”

²³He did not recognize him, for his hands were hairy like those of his brother Esau; so he proceeded to bless him.

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

²⁵Then he said, “My son, bring me some of your game to eat, so that I may give you my blessing.” Jacob brought it to him and he ate; and he brought some wine and he drank.

²⁶Then his father Isaac said to him, “Come here, my son, and kiss me.”

²⁷So he went to him and kissed him. When Isaac caught the smell of 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 you heaven’s dew and earth’s richness— an abundance of grain and new wine.

²⁹May nations serve you and peoples bow down to you. Be lord over your brothers, and may the sons of your mother bow down to you. May those who curse you be cursed and those who bless you be blessed.”

³⁰After Isaac finished blessing him, and Jacob had scarcely left his father’s presence, his brother Esau came in from hunting.

³¹He too prepared some tasty food and brought it to his father. Then he said to him, “My father, please sit up and eat some of my game, so that you may give me your blessing.”

³²His father Isaac asked him, “Who are you?” “I am your son,” he answered, “your firstborn, Esau.”

³³Isaac trembled violently and said, “Who was it, then, that hunted game and brought it to me? I ate it just before you came and I blessed him—and indeed he will be blessed!”

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

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

³⁶Esau said, “Isn’t he rightly named Jacob? This is the second time he has taken advantage of me: He took my birthright, and now he’s taken my blessing!” Then he asked, “Haven’t you reserved any blessing for me?”

³⁷Isaac answered Esau, “I have made him lord over you and have made all his relatives his servants, and I have sustained him with grain and new wine. So what can I possibly do for you, my son?”

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

³⁹His father Isaac answered him, “Your dwelling will be away from the earth’s richness, away from the dew of heaven above.

⁴⁰You will live by the sword and you will serve your brother. But when you grow restless, you will throw his yoke from off your neck.”

⁴¹Esau held a grudge against Jacob because of the blessing his father had given him. He said to himself, “The days of mourning for my father are near; then I will kill my brother Jacob.”

⁴²When Rebekah was told what her older son Esau had said, she sent for her younger son Jacob and said to him, “Your brother Esau is planning to avenge himself by killing you.

⁴³Now then, my son, do what I say: Flee at once to my brother Laban in Harran.

⁴⁴Stay with him for a while until your brother’s fury subsides.

⁴⁵When your brother is no longer angry with you and forgets what you did to him, I’ll send word for you to come back from there. Why should I lose both of you in one day?”

⁴⁶Then Rebekah said to Isaac, “I’m disgusted with living because of these Hittite women. If Jacob takes a wife from among the women of this land, from Hittite women like these, my life will not be worth living.”

¹Follow my example, as I follow the example of Christ.

²I praise you for remembering me in everything and for holding to the traditions just as I passed them on to you.

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

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

⁵But every woman who prays or prophesies with her head uncovered dishonors her head—it is the same as having her head shaved.

⁶For if a woman does not cover her head, she might as well have her hair cut off; but if it is a disgrace for a woman to have her hair cut off or her head shaved, then she should cover her head.

⁷A man ought not to cover his head, since he is the image and glory of God; but woman is the glory of man.

⁸For man did not come from woman, but woman from man;

⁹neither was man created for woman, but woman for man.

¹⁰It is for this reason that a woman ought to have authority over her own head, because of the angels.

¹¹Nevertheless, in the Lord woman is not independent of man, nor is man independent of woman.

¹²For as woman came from man, so also man is born of woman. But everything comes from God.

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

¹⁴Does not the very nature of things 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 long hair is given to her as a covering.

¹⁶If anyone wants to be contentious about this, we have no other practice—nor do the churches of God.

¹⁷In the following directives I have no praise for you, for your meetings do more harm than good.

¹⁸In the first place, I hear that when you come together as a church, there are divisions among you, and to some extent I believe it.

¹⁹No doubt there have to be differences among you to show which of you have God’s approval.

²⁰So then, when you come together, it is not the Lord’s Supper you eat,

²¹for when you are eating, some of you go ahead with your own private suppers. As a result, one person remains hungry and another gets drunk.

²²Don’t you have homes to eat and drink in? Or do you despise the church of God by humiliating those who have nothing? What shall I say to you? Shall I praise you? Certainly not in this matter!

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

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

²⁵In the same way, after supper he took the cup, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood; do this, whenever you drink it, in remembrance of me.”

²⁶For whenever you eat this bread and drink this 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 sinning against the body and blood of the Lord.

²⁸Everyone ought to examine themselves before they eat of the bread and drink from the cup.

²⁹For those who eat and drink without discerning the body of Christ eat and drink judgment on themselves.

³⁰That is why many among you are weak and sick, and a number of you have fallen asleep.

³¹But if we were more discerning with regard to ourselves, we would not come under such judgment.

³²Nevertheless, when we are judged in this way by the Lord, we are being disciplined so that we will not be finally condemned with the world.

³³So then, my brothers and sisters, when you gather to eat, you should all eat together.

³⁴Anyone who is hungry should eat something at home, so that when you meet together it may not result in judgment. And when I come I will give further directions.

¹Now listen, you rich people, weep and wail because of the misery that is coming on you.

²Your wealth has rotted, and moths have eaten your clothes.

³Your gold and silver are corroded. Their corrosion will testify against you and eat your flesh like fire. You have hoarded wealth in the last days.

⁴Look! The wages you failed to pay the workers who mowed your fields are crying out against you. The cries of the harvesters have reached the ears of the Lord Almighty.

⁵You have lived on earth in luxury and self-indulgence. You have fattened yourselves in the day of slaughter.

⁶You have condemned and murdered the innocent one, who was not opposing you.

⁷Be patient, then, brothers and sisters, until the Lord’s coming. See how the farmer waits for the land to yield its valuable crop, patiently waiting for the autumn and spring rains.

⁸You too, be patient and stand firm, because the Lord’s coming is near.

⁹Don’t grumble against one another, brothers and sisters, or you will be judged. The Judge is standing at the door!

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

¹¹As you know, we count as blessed those who have persevered. You have heard of Job’s perseverance and have seen what the Lord finally brought about. The Lord is full of compassion and mercy.

¹²Above all, my brothers and sisters, do not swear—not by heaven or by earth or by anything else. All you need to say is a simple “Yes” or “No.” Otherwise you will be condemned.

¹³Is anyone among you in trouble? Let them pray. Is anyone happy? Let them sing songs of praise.

¹⁴Is anyone among you sick? Let them call the elders of the church to pray over them and anoint them with oil in the name of the Lord.

¹⁵And the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well; the Lord will raise them up. If they have sinned, they will be forgiven.

¹⁶Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective.

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

¹⁸Again he prayed, and the heavens gave rain, and the earth produced its crops.

¹⁹My brothers and sisters, if one of you should wander from the truth and someone should bring that person back,

²⁰remember this: Whoever turns a sinner from the error of their way will save them from death and cover over a multitude of sins.

¹And Job continued his discourse:

²“As surely as God lives, who has denied me justice, the Almighty, who has made my life bitter,

³as long as I have life within me, the breath of God in my nostrils,

⁴my lips will not say anything wicked, and my tongue will not utter lies.

⁵I will never admit you are in the right; till I die, I will not deny my integrity.

⁶I will maintain my innocence and never let go of it; my conscience will not reproach me as long as I live.

⁷“May my enemy be like the wicked, my adversary like the unjust!

⁸For what hope have the godless when they are cut off, when God takes away their life?

⁹Does God listen to their cry when distress comes upon them?

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

¹¹“I will teach you about the power of God; the ways of the Almighty I will not conceal.

¹²You have all seen this yourselves. Why then this meaningless talk?

¹³“Here is the fate God allots to the wicked, the heritage a ruthless man receives from the Almighty:

¹⁴However many his children, their fate is the sword; his offspring will never have enough to eat.

¹⁵The plague will bury those who survive him, and their widows will not weep for them.

¹⁶Though he heaps up silver like dust and clothes like piles of clay,

¹⁷what he lays up the righteous will wear, and the innocent will divide his silver.

¹⁸The house he builds is like a moth’s cocoon, like a hut made by a watchman.

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

²⁰Terrors overtake him like a flood; a tempest snatches him away in the night.

²¹The east wind carries him off, and he is gone; it sweeps him out of his place.

²²It hurls itself against him without mercy as he flees headlong from its power.

²³It claps its hands in derision and hisses him out of his place.”

¹Of David. The LORD is my light and my salvation— whom shall I fear? The LORD is the stronghold of my life— of whom shall I be afraid?

²When the wicked advance against me to devour me, it is my enemies and my foes who will stumble and fall.

³Though an army besiege me, my heart will not fear; though war break out against me, even then I will be confident.

⁴One thing I ask from the LORD, this only do I seek: that I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to gaze on the beauty of the LORD and to seek him in his temple.

⁵For in the day of trouble he will keep me safe in his dwelling; he will hide me in the shelter of his sacred tent and set me high upon a rock.

⁶Then my head will be exalted above the enemies who surround me; at his sacred tent I will sacrifice with shouts of joy; I will sing and make music to the LORD.

⁷Hear my voice when I call, LORD; be merciful to me and answer me.

⁸My heart says of you, “Seek his face!” Your face, LORD, I will seek.

⁹Do not hide your face from me, do not turn your servant away in anger; you have been my helper. Do not reject me or forsake me, God my Savior.

¹⁰Though my father and mother forsake me, the LORD will receive me.

¹¹Teach me your way, LORD; lead me in a straight path because of my oppressors.

¹²Do not turn me over to the desire of my foes, for false witnesses rise up against me, spouting malicious accusations.

¹³I remain confident of this: I will see the goodness of the LORD in the land of the living.

¹⁴Wait for the LORD; be strong and take heart and wait for the LORD.

¹Do not boast about tomorrow, for you do not know what a day may bring.

²Let someone else praise you, and not your own mouth; an outsider, and not your own lips.

³Stone is heavy and sand a burden, but a fool’s provocation is heavier than both.

⁴Anger is cruel and fury overwhelming, but who can stand before jealousy?

⁵Better is open rebuke than hidden love.

⁶Wounds from a friend can be trusted, but an enemy multiplies kisses.

⁷One who is full loathes honey from the comb, but to the hungry even what is bitter tastes sweet.

⁸Like a bird that flees its nest is anyone who flees from home.

⁹Perfume and incense bring joy to the heart, and the pleasantness of a friend springs from their heartfelt advice.

¹⁰Do not forsake your friend or a friend of your family, and do not go to your relative’s house when disaster strikes you— better a neighbor nearby than a relative far away.

¹¹Be wise, my son, and bring joy to my heart; then I can answer anyone who treats me with contempt.

¹²The prudent see danger and take refuge, but the simple keep going and pay the penalty.

¹³Take the garment of one who puts up security for a stranger; hold it in pledge if it is done for an outsider.

¹⁴If anyone loudly blesses their neighbor early in the morning, it will be taken as a curse.

¹⁵A quarrelsome wife is like the dripping of a leaky roof in a rainstorm;

¹⁶restraining her is like restraining the wind or grasping oil with the hand.

¹⁷As iron sharpens iron, so one person sharpens another.

¹⁸The one who guards a fig tree will eat its fruit, and whoever protects their master will be honored.

¹⁹As water reflects the face, so one’s life reflects the heart.

²⁰Death and Destruction are never satisfied, and neither are human eyes.

²¹The crucible for silver and the furnace for gold, but people are tested by their praise.

²²Though you grind a fool in a mortar, grinding them like grain with a pestle, you will not remove their folly from them.

²³Be sure you know the condition of your flocks, give careful attention to your herds;

²⁴for riches do not endure forever, and a crown is not secure for all generations.

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

²⁶the lambs will provide you with clothing, and the goats with the price of a field.

²⁷You will have plenty of goats’ milk to feed your family and to nourish your female servants.

¹These are the nations the LORD left to test all those Israelites who had not experienced any of the wars in Canaan

²(he did this only to teach warfare to the descendants of the Israelites who had not had previous battle experience):

³the five rulers of the Philistines, all the Canaanites, the Sidonians, and the Hivites living in the Lebanon mountains from Mount Baal Hermon to Lebo Hamath.

⁴They were left to test the Israelites to see whether they would obey the LORD’s commands, which he had given their ancestors through Moses.

⁵The Israelites lived among the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites.

⁶They took their daughters in marriage and gave their own daughters to their sons, and served their gods.

⁷The Israelites did evil in the eyes of the LORD; they forgot the LORD their God and served the Baals and the Asherahs.

⁸The anger of the LORD burned against Israel so that he sold them into the hands of Cushan-Rishathaim king of Aram Naharaim, to whom the Israelites were subject for eight years.

⁹But when they cried out to the LORD, he raised up for them a deliverer, Othniel son of Kenaz, Caleb’s younger brother, who saved them.

¹⁰The Spirit of the LORD came on him, so that he became Israel’s judge and went to war. The LORD gave Cushan-Rishathaim king of Aram into the hands of Othniel, who overpowered him.

¹¹So the land had peace for forty years, until Othniel son of Kenaz died.

¹²Again the Israelites did evil in the eyes of the LORD, and because they did this evil the LORD gave Eglon king of Moab power over Israel.

¹³Getting the Ammonites and Amalekites to join him, Eglon came and attacked Israel, and they took possession of the City of Palms.

¹⁴The Israelites were subject to Eglon king of Moab for eighteen years.

¹⁵Again the Israelites cried out to the LORD, and he gave them a deliverer—Ehud, a left-handed man, the son of Gera the Benjamite. The Israelites sent him with tribute to Eglon king of Moab.

¹⁶Now Ehud had made a double-edged sword about a cubit long, which he strapped to his right thigh under his clothing.

¹⁷He presented the tribute to Eglon king of Moab, who was a very fat man.

¹⁸After Ehud had presented the tribute, he sent on their way those who had carried it.

¹⁹But on reaching the stone images near Gilgal he himself went back to Eglon and said, “Your Majesty, I have a secret message for you.” The king said to his attendants, “Leave us!” And they all left.

²⁰Ehud then approached him while he was sitting alone in the upper room of his palace and said, “I have a message from God for you.” As the king rose from his seat,

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

²²Even the handle sank in after the blade, and his bowels discharged. Ehud did not pull the sword out, and the fat closed in over it.

²³Then Ehud went out to the porch; he shut the doors of the upper room behind him and locked them.

²⁴After he had gone, the servants came and found the doors of the upper room locked. They said, “He must be relieving himself in the inner room of the palace.”

²⁵They waited to the point of embarrassment, but when he did not open the doors of the room, they took a key and unlocked them. There they saw their lord fallen to the floor, dead.

²⁶While they waited, Ehud got away. He passed by the stone images and escaped to Seirah.

²⁷When he arrived there, he blew a trumpet in the hill country of Ephraim, and the Israelites went down with him from the hills, with him leading them.

²⁸“Follow me,” he ordered, “for the LORD has given Moab, your enemy, into your hands.” So they followed him down and took possession of the fords of the Jordan that led to Moab; they allowed no one to cross over.

²⁹At that time they struck down about ten thousand Moabites, all vigorous and strong; not one escaped.

³⁰That day Moab was made subject to Israel, and the land had peace for eighty years.

³¹After Ehud came Shamgar son of Anath, who struck down six hundred Philistines with an oxgoad. He too saved Israel.

¹In that day, the LORD will punish with his sword— his fierce, great and powerful sword— Leviathan the gliding serpent, Leviathan the coiling serpent; he will slay the monster of the sea.

²In that day— “Sing about a fruitful vineyard:

³I, the LORD, watch over it; I water it continually. I guard it day and night so that no one may harm it.

⁴I am not angry. If only there were briers and thorns confronting me! I would march against them in battle; I would set them all on fire.

⁵Or else let them come to me for refuge; let them make peace with me, yes, let them make peace with me.”

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

⁷Has the LORD struck her as he struck down those who struck her? Has she been killed as those were killed who killed her?

⁸By warfare and exile you contend with her— with his fierce blast he drives her out, as on a day the east wind blows.

⁹By this, then, will Jacob’s guilt be atoned for, and this will be the full fruit of the removal of his sin: When he makes all the altar stones to be like limestone crushed to pieces, no Asherah poles or incense altars will be left standing.

¹⁰The fortified city stands desolate, an abandoned settlement, forsaken like the wilderness; there the calves graze, there they lie down; they strip its branches bare.

¹¹When its twigs are dry, they are broken off and women come and make fires with them. For this is a people without understanding; so their Maker has no compassion on them, and their Creator shows them no favor.

¹²In that day the LORD will thresh from the flowing Euphrates to the Wadi of Egypt, and you, Israel, will be gathered up one by one.

¹³And in that day a great trumpet will sound. Those who were perishing in Assyria and those who were exiled in Egypt will come and worship the LORD on the holy mountain in Jerusalem.

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

²We boarded a ship from Adramyttium about to sail for ports along the coast of the province of Asia, and we put out to sea. Aristarchus, a Macedonian from Thessalonica, was with us.

³The next day we landed at Sidon; and Julius, in kindness to Paul, allowed him to go to his friends so they might provide for his needs.

⁴From there we put out to sea again and passed to the lee of Cyprus because the winds were against us.

⁵When we had sailed across the open sea off the coast of Cilicia and Pamphylia, we landed at Myra in Lycia.

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

⁷We made slow headway for many days and had difficulty arriving off Cnidus. When the wind did not allow us to hold our course, we sailed to the lee of Crete, opposite Salmone.

⁸We moved along the coast with difficulty and came to a place called Fair Havens, near the town of Lasea.

⁹Much time had been lost, and sailing had already become dangerous because by now it was after the Day of Atonement. So Paul warned them,

¹⁰“Men, I can see that our voyage is going to be disastrous and bring great loss to ship and cargo, and to our own lives also.”

¹¹But the centurion, instead of listening to what Paul said, followed the advice of the pilot and of the owner of the ship.

¹²Since the harbor was unsuitable to winter in, the majority decided that we should sail on, hoping to reach Phoenix and winter there. This was a harbor in Crete, facing both southwest and northwest.

¹³When a gentle south wind began to blow, they saw their opportunity; so they weighed anchor and sailed along the shore of Crete.

¹⁴Before very long, a wind of hurricane force, called the Northeaster, swept down from the island.

¹⁵The ship was caught by the storm and could not head into the wind; so we gave way to it and were driven along.

¹⁶As we passed to the lee of a small island called Cauda, we were hardly able to make the lifeboat secure,

¹⁷so the men hoisted it aboard. Then they passed ropes under the ship itself to hold it together. Because they were afraid they would run aground on the sandbars of Syrtis, they lowered the sea anchor and let the ship be driven along.

¹⁸We took such a violent battering from the storm that the next day they began to throw the cargo overboard.

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

²⁰When neither sun nor stars appeared for many days and the storm continued raging, we finally gave up all hope of being saved.

²¹After they had gone a long time without food, Paul stood up before them and said: “Men, you should have taken my advice not to sail from Crete; then you would have spared yourselves this damage and loss.

²²But now I urge you to keep up your courage, because not one of you will be lost; only the ship will be destroyed.

²³Last night an angel of the God to whom I belong and whom I serve stood beside me

²⁴and said, ‘Do not be afraid, Paul. You must stand trial before Caesar; and God has graciously given you the lives of all who sail with you.’

²⁵So keep up your courage, men, for I have faith in God that it will happen just as he told me.

²⁶Nevertheless, we must run aground on some island.”

²⁷On the fourteenth night we were still being driven across the Adriatic Sea, when about midnight the sailors sensed they were approaching land.

²⁸They took soundings and found that the water was a hundred and twenty feet deep. A short time later they took soundings again and found it was ninety feet deep.

²⁹Fearing that we would be dashed against the rocks, they dropped four anchors from the stern and prayed for daylight.

³⁰In an attempt to escape from the ship, the sailors let the lifeboat down into the sea, pretending they were going to lower some anchors from the bow.

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

³²So the soldiers cut the ropes that held the lifeboat and let it drift away.

³³Just before dawn Paul urged them all to eat. “For the last fourteen days,” he said, “you have been in constant suspense and have gone without food—you haven’t eaten anything.

³⁴Now I urge you to take some food. You need it to survive. Not one of you will lose a single hair from his head.”

³⁵After he said this, he took some bread and gave thanks to God in front of them all. Then he broke it and began to eat.

³⁶They were all encouraged and ate some food themselves.

³⁷Altogether there were 276 of us on board.

³⁸When they had eaten as much as they wanted, they lightened the ship by throwing the grain into the sea.

³⁹When daylight came, they did not recognize the land, but they saw a bay with a sandy beach, where they decided to run the ship aground if they could.

⁴⁰Cutting loose the anchors, they left them in the sea and at the same time untied the ropes that held the rudders. Then they hoisted the foresail to the wind and made for the beach.

⁴¹But the ship struck a sandbar and ran aground. The bow stuck fast and would not move, and the stern was broken to pieces by the pounding of the surf.

⁴²The soldiers planned to kill the prisoners to prevent any of them from swimming away and escaping.

⁴³But the centurion wanted to spare Paul’s life and kept them from carrying out their plan. He ordered those who could swim to jump overboard first and get to land.

⁴⁴The rest were to get there on planks or on other pieces of the ship. In this way everyone reached land safely.