Professor Horner’s Reading Plan

¹When morning came, all the chief priests and the elders of the people conferred together against Jesus in order to bring about his death.

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

³When Judas, his betrayer, saw that Jesus was condemned, he repented and brought back the thirty pieces of silver to the chief priests and the elders.

⁴He said, “I have sinned by betraying innocent blood.” But they said, “What is that to us? See to it yourself.”

⁵Throwing down the pieces of silver in the temple, he departed; and he went and hanged himself.

⁶But the chief priests, taking the pieces of silver, said, “It is not lawful to put them into the treasury, since they are blood money.”

⁷After conferring together, they used them to buy the potter’s field as a place to bury foreigners.

⁸For this reason that field has been called the Field of Blood to this day.

⁹Then was fulfilled what had been spoken through the prophet Jeremiah, “And they took the thirty pieces of silver, the price of the one on whom a price had been set, on whom some of the people of Israel had set a price,

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

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

¹²But when he was accused by the chief priests and elders, he did not answer.

¹³Then Pilate said to him, “Do you not hear how many accusations they make against you?”

¹⁴But he gave him no answer, not even to a single charge, so that the governor was greatly amazed.

¹⁵Now at the festival the governor was accustomed to release a prisoner for the crowd, anyone whom they wanted.

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

¹⁷So after they had gathered, Pilate said to them, “Whom do you want me to release for you, Jesus Barabbas or Jesus who is called the Messiah?”

¹⁸For he realized that it was out of jealousy that they had handed him over.

¹⁹While he was sitting on the judgment seat, his wife sent word to him, “Have nothing to do with that innocent man, for today I have suffered a great deal because of a dream about him.”

²⁰Now the chief priests and the elders persuaded the crowds to ask for Barabbas and to have Jesus killed.

²¹The governor again said to them, “Which of the two do you want me to release for you?” And they said, “Barabbas.”

²²Pilate said to them, “Then what should I do with Jesus who is called the Messiah?” All of them said, “Let him be crucified!”

²³Then he asked, “Why, what evil has he done?” But they shouted all the more, “Let him be crucified!”

²⁴So when Pilate saw that he could do nothing, but rather that a riot was beginning, he took some water and washed his hands before the crowd, saying, “I am innocent of this man’s blood; see to it yourselves.”

²⁵Then the people as a whole answered, “His blood be on us and on our children!”

²⁶So he released Barabbas for them; and after flogging Jesus, he handed him over to be crucified.

²⁷Then the soldiers of the governor took Jesus into the governor’s headquarters, and they gathered the whole cohort around him.

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

²⁹and after twisting some thorns into a crown, they put it on his head. They put a reed in his right hand and knelt before him and mocked him, saying, “Hail, King of the Jews!”

³⁰They spat on him, and took the reed and struck him on the head.

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

³²As they went out, they came upon a man from Cyrene named Simon; they compelled this man to carry his cross.

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

³⁴they offered him wine to drink, mixed with gall; but when he tasted it, he would not drink it.

³⁵And when they had crucified him, they divided his clothes among themselves by casting lots;

³⁶then they sat down there and kept watch over him.

³⁷Over his head they put the charge against him, which read, “This is Jesus, the King of the Jews.”

³⁸Then two bandits were crucified with him, one on his right and one on his left.

³⁹Those who passed by derided him, shaking their heads

⁴⁰and saying, “You who would destroy the temple and build 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 also, along with the scribes and elders, were mocking him, saying,

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

⁴³He trusts in God; let God deliver him now, if he wants to; for he said, ‘I am God’s Son.’”

⁴⁴The bandits who were crucified with him also taunted him in the same way.

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

⁴⁶And about three o’clock Jesus cried with a loud voice, “Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?” that is, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”

⁴⁷When some of the bystanders heard it, they said, “This man is calling for Elijah.”

⁴⁸At once one of them ran and got a sponge, filled it with sour wine, put it on a stick, and gave it to him to drink.

⁴⁹But the others said, “Wait, let us see whether Elijah will come to save him.”

⁵⁰Then Jesus cried again with a loud voice and breathed his last.

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

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

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

⁵⁴Now when the centurion and those with him, who were keeping watch over Jesus, saw the earthquake and what took place, they were terrified and said, “Truly this man was God’s Son!”

⁵⁵Many women were also there, looking on from a distance; they had followed Jesus from Galilee and had provided for him.

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

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

⁵⁸He went to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus; then Pilate ordered it to be given to him.

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

⁶⁰and laid it in his own new tomb, which he had hewn in the rock. He then rolled a great stone to the door of the tomb and went away.

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

⁶²The next day, that is, after the day of Preparation, the chief priests and the Pharisees gathered before Pilate

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

⁶⁴Therefore command the tomb to be made secure until the third day; otherwise his disciples may go and steal him away, and tell the people, ‘He has been raised from the dead,’ and the last deception would be worse than the first.”

⁶⁵Pilate said to them, “You have a guard of soldiers; go, make it as secure as you can.”

⁶⁶So they went with the guard and made the tomb secure by sealing the stone.

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

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

³Now then, take your weapons, your quiver and your bow, and go out to the field, and hunt game for me.

⁴Then prepare for me savory food, such as I like, and bring it to me to eat, so that I may bless you before I die.”

⁵Now Rebekah was listening when Isaac spoke to his son Esau. So when Esau went to the field to hunt for game and bring it,

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

⁷‘Bring me game, and prepare for me savory food to eat, that I may bless you before the LORD before I die.’

⁸Now therefore, my son, obey my word as I command you.

⁹Go to the flock, and get me two choice kids, so that I may prepare from them savory food for your father, such as he likes;

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

¹¹But Jacob said to his mother Rebekah, “Look, my brother Esau is a hairy man, and I am a man of smooth skin.

¹²Perhaps my father will feel me, and I shall seem to be mocking him, and bring a curse on myself and not a blessing.”

¹³His mother said to him, “Let your curse be on me, my son; only obey my word, and go, get them for me.”

¹⁴So he went and got them and brought them to his mother; and his mother prepared savory food, such as his father loved.

¹⁵Then Rebekah took the best garments of her elder son Esau, which were with her in the house, and put them on her younger son Jacob;

¹⁶and she put the skins of the kids on his hands and on the smooth part of his neck.

¹⁷Then she handed the savory food, and the bread that she had prepared, to her son Jacob.

¹⁸So he went in to his father, and said, “My father”; and he said, “Here I am; who are you, my son?”

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

²⁰But Isaac said to his son, “How is it that you have found it so quickly, my son?” He answered, “Because the LORD your God granted me success.”

²¹Then Isaac said to Jacob, “Come near, that I may feel you, my son, to know whether you are really my son Esau or not.”

²²So Jacob went up to his father Isaac, who felt him and said, “The voice is Jacob’s voice, but the hands are the hands of Esau.”

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

²⁴He said, “Are you really my son Esau?” He answered, “I am.”

²⁵Then he said, “Bring it to me, that I may eat of my son’s game and bless you.” So he brought it to him, and he ate; and he brought him wine, and he drank.

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

²⁷So he came near and kissed him; and he smelled the smell of his garments, and 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 of the dew of heaven, and of the fatness of the earth, and plenty of grain and wine.

²⁹Let peoples serve you, and nations bow down to you. Be lord over your brothers, and may your mother’s sons bow down to you. Cursed be everyone who curses you, and blessed be everyone who blesses you!”

³⁰As soon as Isaac had finished blessing Jacob, when Jacob had scarcely gone out from the presence of his father Isaac, his brother Esau came in from his hunting.

³¹He also prepared savory food, and brought it to his father. And he said to his father, “Let my father sit up and eat of his son’s game, so that you may bless me.”

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

³³Then Isaac trembled violently, and said, “Who was it then that hunted game and brought it to me, and I ate it all before you came, and I have blessed him? — yes, and blessed he shall be!”

³⁴When Esau heard his father’s words, he cried out with an exceedingly great and bitter cry, and said to his father, “Bless me, me also, father!”

³⁵But he said, “Your brother came deceitfully, and he has taken away your blessing.”

³⁶Esau said, “Is he not rightly named Jacob? For he has supplanted me these two times. He took away my birthright; and look, now he has taken away my blessing.” Then he said, “Have you not reserved a blessing for me?”

³⁷Isaac answered Esau, “I have already made him your lord, and I have given him all his brothers as servants, and with grain and wine I have sustained him. What then can I do for you, my son?”

³⁸Esau said to his father, “Have you only one blessing, father? Bless me, me also, father!” And Esau lifted up his voice and wept.

³⁹Then his father Isaac answered him: “See, away from the fatness of the earth shall your home be, and away from the dew of heaven on high.

⁴⁰By your sword you shall live, and you shall serve your brother; but when you break loose, you shall break his yoke from your neck.”

⁴¹Now Esau hated Jacob because of the blessing with which his father had blessed him, and Esau said to himself, “The days of mourning for my father are approaching; then I will kill my brother Jacob.”

⁴²But the words of her elder son Esau were told to Rebekah; so she sent and called her younger son Jacob and said to him, “Your brother Esau is consoling himself by planning to kill you.

⁴³Now therefore, my son, obey my voice; flee at once to my brother Laban in Haran,

⁴⁴and stay with him a while, until your brother’s fury turns away —

⁴⁵until your brother’s anger against you turns away, and he forgets what you have done to him; then I will send, and bring you back from there. Why should I lose both of you in one day?”

⁴⁶Then Rebekah said to Isaac, “I am weary of my life because of the Hittite women. If Jacob marries one of the Hittite women such as these, one of the women of the land, what good will my life be to me?”

¹Be imitators of me, as I am of Christ.

²I commend you because you remember me in everything and maintain the traditions just as I handed them on to you.

³But I want you to understand that Christ is the head of every man, and the husband is the head of his wife, and God is the head of Christ.

⁴Any man who prays or prophesies with something on his head disgraces his head,

⁵but any woman who prays or prophesies with her head unveiled disgraces her head — it is one and the same thing as having her head shaved.

⁶For if a woman will not veil herself, then she should cut off her hair; but if it is disgraceful for a woman to have her hair cut off or to be shaved, she should wear a veil.

⁷For a man ought not to have his head veiled, since he is the image and reflection of God; but woman is the reflection of man.

⁸Indeed, man was not made from woman, but woman from man.

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

¹⁰For this reason a woman ought to have a symbol of authority on her head, because of the angels.

¹¹Nevertheless, in the Lord woman is not independent of man or man independent of woman.

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

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

¹⁴Does not nature itself teach you that if a man wears long hair, it is degrading to him,

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

¹⁶But if anyone is disposed to be contentious — we have no such custom, nor do the churches of God.

¹⁷Now in the following instructions I do not commend you, because when you come together it is not for the better but for the worse.

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

¹⁹Indeed, there have to be factions among you, for only so will it become clear who among you are genuine.

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

²¹For when the time comes to eat, each of you goes ahead with your own supper, and one goes hungry and another becomes drunk.

²²What! Do you not have homes to eat and drink in? Or do you show contempt for the church of God and humiliate those who have nothing? What should I say to you? Should I commend you? In this matter I do not commend you!

²³For I received from the Lord what I also handed on to you, that the Lord Jesus on the night when he was betrayed took a loaf of bread,

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

²⁵In the same way he took the cup also, after supper, saying, “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.

²⁷Whoever, therefore, eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be answerable for the body and blood of the Lord.

²⁸Examine yourselves, and only then eat of the bread and drink of the cup.

²⁹For all who eat and drink without discerning the body, eat and drink judgment against themselves.

³⁰For this reason many of you are weak and ill, and some have died.

³¹But if we judged ourselves, we would not be judged.

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

³³So then, my brothers and sisters, when you come together to eat, wait for one another.

³⁴If you are hungry, eat at home, so that when you come together, it will not be for your condemnation. About the other things I will give instructions when I come.

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

²Your riches have rotted, and your clothes are moth-eaten.

³Your gold and silver have rusted, and their rust will be evidence against you, and it will eat your flesh like fire. You have laid up treasure for the last days.

⁴Listen! The wages of the laborers who mowed your fields, which you kept back by fraud, cry out, and the cries of the harvesters have reached the ears of the Lord of hosts.

⁵You have lived on the earth in luxury and in pleasure; you have fattened your hearts in a day of slaughter.

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

⁷Be patient, therefore, beloved, until the coming of the Lord. The farmer waits for the precious crop from the earth, being patient with it until it receives the early and the late rains.

⁸You also must be patient. Strengthen your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is near.

⁹Beloved, do not grumble against one another, so that you may not be judged. See, the Judge is standing at the doors!

¹⁰As an example of suffering and patience, beloved, take the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord.

¹¹Indeed we call blessed those who showed endurance. You have heard of the endurance of Job, and you have seen the purpose of the Lord, how the Lord is compassionate and merciful.

¹²Above all, my beloved, do not swear, either by heaven or by earth or by any other oath, but let your “Yes” be yes and your “No” be no, so that you may not fall under condemnation.

¹³Are any among you suffering? They should pray. Are any cheerful? They should sing songs of praise.

¹⁴Are any among you sick? They should call for the elders of the church and have them pray over them, anointing them with oil in the name of the Lord.

¹⁵The prayer of faith will save the sick, and the Lord will raise them up; and anyone who has committed sins will be forgiven.

¹⁶Therefore confess your sins to one another, and pray for one another, so that you may be healed. The prayer of the righteous is powerful and effective.

¹⁷Elijah was a human being like us, and he prayed fervently that it might not rain, and for three years and six months it did not rain on the earth.

¹⁸Then he prayed again, and the heaven gave rain and the earth yielded its harvest.

¹⁹My brothers and sisters, if anyone among you wanders from the truth and is brought back by another,

²⁰you should know that whoever brings back a sinner from wandering will save the sinner’s soul from death and will cover a multitude of sins.

¹Job again took up his discourse and said:

²“As God lives, who has taken away my right, and the Almighty, who has made my soul bitter,

³as long as my breath is in me and the spirit of God is in my nostrils,

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

⁵Far be it from me to say that you are right; until I die I will not put away my integrity from me.

⁶I hold fast my righteousness, and will not let it go; my heart does not reproach me for any of my days.

⁷“May my enemy be like the wicked, and may my opponent be like the unrighteous.

⁸For what is the hope of the godless when God cuts them off, when God takes away their lives?

⁹Will God hear their cry when trouble comes upon them?

¹⁰Will they take delight in the Almighty? Will they call upon God at all times?

¹¹I will teach you concerning the hand of God; that which is with the Almighty I will not conceal.

¹²All of you have seen it yourselves; why then have you become altogether vain?

¹³“This is the portion of the wicked with God, and the heritage that oppressors receive from the Almighty:

¹⁴If their children are multiplied, it is for the sword; and their offspring have not enough to eat.

¹⁵Those who survive them the pestilence buries, and their widows make no lamentation.

¹⁶Though they heap up silver like dust, and pile up clothing like clay —

¹⁷they may pile it up, but the just will wear it, and the innocent will divide the silver.

¹⁸They build their houses like nests, like booths made by sentinels of the vineyard.

¹⁹They go to bed with wealth, but will do so no more; they open their eyes, and it is gone.

²⁰Terrors overtake them like a flood; in the night a whirlwind carries them off.

²¹The east wind lifts them up and they are gone; it sweeps them out of their place.

²²It hurls at them without pity; they flee from its power in headlong flight.

²³It claps its hands at them, and hisses at them from its place.

¹The 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 evildoers assail me to devour my flesh — my adversaries and foes — they shall stumble and fall.

³Though an army encamp against me, my heart shall not fear; though war rise up against me, yet I will be confident.

⁴One thing I asked of the LORD, that will I seek after: to live in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the LORD, and to inquire in his temple.

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

⁶Now my head is lifted up above my enemies all around me, and I will offer in his tent sacrifices with shouts of joy; I will sing and make melody to the LORD.

⁷Hear, O LORD, when I cry aloud, be gracious to me and answer me!

⁸“Come,” my heart says, “seek his face!” Your face, LORD, do I seek.

⁹Do not hide your face from me. Do not turn your servant away in anger, you who have been my help. Do not cast me off, do not forsake me, O God of my salvation!

¹⁰If my father and mother forsake me, the LORD will take me up.

¹¹Teach me your way, O LORD, and lead me on a level path because of my enemies.

¹²Do not give me up to the will of my adversaries, for false witnesses have risen against me, and they are breathing out violence.

¹³I believe that I shall see the goodness of the LORD in the land of the living.

¹⁴Wait for the LORD; be strong, and let your heart take courage; wait for the LORD!

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

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

³A stone is heavy, and sand is weighty, but a fool’s provocation is heavier than both.

⁴Wrath is cruel, anger is overwhelming, but who is able to stand before jealousy?

⁵Better is open rebuke than hidden love.

⁶Well meant are the wounds a friend inflicts, but profuse are the kisses of an enemy.

⁷The sated appetite spurns honey, but to a ravenous appetite even the bitter is sweet.

⁸Like a bird that strays from its nest is one who strays from home.

⁹Perfume and incense make the heart glad, but the soul is torn by trouble.

¹⁰Do not forsake your friend or the friend of your parent; do not go to the house of your kindred in the day of your calamity. Better is a neighbor who is nearby than kindred who are far away.

¹¹Be wise, my child, and make my heart glad, so that I may answer whoever reproaches me.

¹²The clever see danger and hide; but the simple go on, and suffer for it.

¹³Take the garment of one who has given surety for a stranger; seize the pledge given as surety for foreigners.

¹⁴Whoever blesses a neighbor with a loud voice, rising early in the morning, will be counted as cursing.

¹⁵A continual dripping on a rainy day and a contentious wife are alike;

¹⁶to restrain her is to restrain the wind or to grasp oil in the right hand.

¹⁷Iron sharpens iron, and one person sharpens the wits of another.

¹⁸Anyone who tends a fig tree will eat its fruit, and anyone who takes care of a master will be honored.

¹⁹Just as water reflects the face, so one human heart reflects another.

²⁰Sheol and Abaddon are never satisfied, and human eyes are never satisfied.

²¹The crucible is for silver, and the furnace is for gold, so a person is tested by being praised.

²²Crush a fool in a mortar with a pestle along with crushed grain, but the folly will not be driven out.

²³Know well the condition of your flocks, and give attention to your herds;

²⁴for riches do not last forever, nor a crown for all generations.

²⁵When the grass is gone, and new growth appears, and the herbage of the mountains is gathered,

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

²⁷there will be enough goats’ milk for your food, for the food of your household and nourishment for your servant-girls.

¹Now these are the nations that the LORD left to test all those in Israel who had no experience of any war in Canaan

²(it was only that successive generations of Israelites might know war, to teach those who had no experience of it before):

³the five lords of the Philistines, and all the Canaanites, and the Sidonians, and the Hivites who lived on Mount Lebanon, from Mount Baal-hermon as far as Lebo-hamath.

⁴They were for the testing of Israel, to know whether Israel would obey the commandments of the LORD, which he commanded their ancestors by Moses.

⁵So the Israelites lived among the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites;

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

⁷The Israelites did what was evil in the sight of the LORD, forgetting the LORD their God, and worshiping the Baals and the Asherahs.

⁸Therefore the anger of the LORD was kindled against Israel, and he sold them into the hand of King Cushan-rishathaim of Aram-naharaim; and the Israelites served Cushan-rishathaim eight years.

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

¹⁰The spirit of the LORD came upon him, and he judged Israel; he went out to war, and the LORD gave King Cushan-rishathaim of Aram into his hand; and his hand prevailed over Cushan-rishathaim.

¹¹So the land had rest forty years. Then Othniel son of Kenaz died.

¹²The Israelites again did what was evil in the sight of the LORD; and the LORD strengthened King Eglon of Moab against Israel, because they had done what was evil in the sight of the LORD.

¹³In alliance with the Ammonites and the Amalekites, he went and defeated Israel; and they took possession of the city of palms.

¹⁴So the Israelites served King Eglon of Moab eighteen years.

¹⁵But when the Israelites cried out to the LORD, the LORD raised up for them a deliverer, Ehud son of Gera, the Benjaminite, a left-handed man. The Israelites sent tribute by him to King Eglon of Moab.

¹⁶Ehud made for himself a sword with two edges, a cubit in length; and he fastened it on his right thigh under his clothes.

¹⁷Then he presented the tribute to King Eglon of Moab. Now Eglon was a very fat man.

¹⁸When Ehud had finished presenting the tribute, he sent the people who carried the tribute on their way.

¹⁹But he himself turned back at the sculptured stones near Gilgal, and said, “I have a secret message for you, O king.” So the king said, “Silence!” and all his attendants went out from his presence.

²⁰Ehud came to him, while he was sitting alone in his cool roof chamber, and said, “I have a message from God for you.” So he rose from his seat.

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

²²the hilt also went in after the blade, and the fat closed over the blade, for he did not draw the sword out of his belly; and the dirt came out.

²³Then Ehud went out into the vestibule, and closed the doors of the roof chamber on him, and locked them.

²⁴After he had gone, the servants came. When they saw that the doors of the roof chamber were locked, they thought, “He must be relieving himself in the cool chamber.”

²⁵So they waited until they were embarrassed. When he still did not open the doors of the roof chamber, they took the key and opened them. There was their lord lying dead on the floor.

²⁶Ehud escaped while they delayed, and passed beyond the sculptured stones, and escaped to Seirah.

²⁷When he arrived, he sounded the trumpet in the hill country of Ephraim; and the Israelites went down with him from the hill country, having him at their head.

²⁸He said to them, “Follow after me; for the LORD has given your enemies the Moabites into your hand.” So they went down after him, and seized the fords of the Jordan against the Moabites, and allowed no one to cross over.

²⁹At that time they killed about ten thousand of the Moabites, all strong, able-bodied men; no one escaped.

³⁰So Moab was subdued that day under the hand of Israel. And the land had rest eighty years.

³¹After him came Shamgar son of Anath, who killed six hundred of the Philistines with an oxgoad. He too delivered Israel.

¹On that day the LORD with his cruel and great and strong sword will punish Leviathan the fleeing serpent, Leviathan the twisting serpent, and he will kill the dragon that is in the sea.

²On that day: A pleasant vineyard, sing about it!

³I, the LORD, am its keeper; every moment I water it. I guard it night and day so that no one can harm it;

⁴I have no wrath. If it gives me thorns and briers, I will march to battle against it. I will burn it up.

⁵Or else let it cling to me for protection, let it make peace with me, let it make peace with me.

⁶In days to come Jacob shall take root, Israel shall blossom and put forth shoots, and fill the whole world with fruit.

⁷Has he struck them down as he struck down those who struck them? Or have they been killed as their killers were killed?

⁸By expulsion, by exile you struggled against them; with his fierce blast he removed them in the day of the east wind.

⁹Therefore by this the guilt of Jacob will be expiated, and this will be the full fruit of the removal of his sin: when he makes all the stones of the altars like chalkstones crushed to pieces, no sacred poles or incense altars will remain standing.

¹⁰For the fortified city is solitary, a habitation deserted and forsaken, like the wilderness; the calves graze there, there they lie down, and strip its branches.

¹¹When its boughs are dry, they are broken; women come and make a fire of them. For this is a people without understanding; therefore he that made them will not have compassion on them, he that formed them will show them no favor.

¹²On that day the LORD will thresh from the channel of the Euphrates to the Wadi of Egypt, and you will be gathered one by one, O people of Israel.

¹³And on that day a great trumpet will be blown, and those who were lost in the land of Assyria and those who were driven out to the land of Egypt will come and worship the LORD on the holy mountain at Jerusalem.

¹When it was decided that we were to sail for Italy, they transferred Paul and some other prisoners to a centurion of the Augustan Cohort, named Julius.

²Embarking on a ship of Adramyttium that was about to set sail to the ports along the coast of Asia, we put to sea, accompanied by Aristarchus, a Macedonian from Thessalonica.

³The next day we put in at Sidon; and Julius treated Paul kindly, and allowed him to go to his friends to be cared for.

⁴Putting out to sea from there, we sailed under the lee of Cyprus, because the winds were against us.

⁵After we had sailed across the sea that is off Cilicia and Pamphylia, we came to Myra in Lycia.

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

⁷We sailed slowly for a number of days and arrived with difficulty off Cnidus, and as the wind was against us, we sailed under the lee of Crete off Salmone.

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

⁹Since much time had been lost and sailing was now dangerous, because even the Fast had already gone by, Paul advised them,

¹⁰saying, “Sirs, I can see that the voyage will be with danger and much heavy loss, not only of the cargo and the ship, but also of our lives.”

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

¹²Since the harbor was not suitable for spending the winter, the majority was in favor of putting to sea from there, on the chance that somehow they could reach Phoenix, where they could spend the winter. It was a harbor of Crete, facing southwest and northwest.

¹³When a moderate south wind began to blow, they thought they could achieve their purpose; so they weighed anchor and began to sail past Crete, close to the shore.

¹⁴But soon a violent wind, called the northeaster, rushed down from Crete.

¹⁵Since the ship was caught and could not be turned head-on into the wind, we gave way to it and were driven.

¹⁶By running under the lee of a small island called Cauda we were scarcely able to get the ship’s boat under control.

¹⁷After hoisting it up they took measures to undergird the ship; then, fearing that they would run on the Syrtis, they lowered the sea anchor and so were driven.

¹⁸We were being pounded by the storm so violently that on the next day they began to throw the cargo overboard,

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

²⁰When neither sun nor stars appeared for many days, and no small tempest raged, all hope of our being saved was at last abandoned.

²¹Since they had been without food for a long time, Paul then stood up among them and said, “Men, you should have listened to me and not have set sail from Crete and thereby avoided this damage and loss.

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

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

²⁴and he said, ‘Do not be afraid, Paul; you must stand before the emperor; and indeed, God has granted safety to all those who are sailing with you.’

²⁵So keep up your courage, men, for I have faith in God that it will be exactly as I have been told.

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

²⁷When the fourteenth night had come, as we were drifting across the sea of Adria, about midnight the sailors suspected that they were nearing land.

²⁸So they took soundings and found twenty fathoms; a little farther on they took soundings again and found fifteen fathoms.

²⁹Fearing that we might run on the rocks, they let down four anchors from the stern and prayed for day to come.

³⁰But when the sailors tried to escape from the ship and had lowered the boat into the sea, on the pretext of putting 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 away the ropes of the boat and set it adrift.

³³Just before daybreak, Paul urged all of them to take some food, saying, “Today is the fourteenth day that you have been in suspense and remaining without food, having eaten nothing.

³⁴Therefore I urge you to take some food, for it will help you survive; for none of you will lose a hair from your heads.”

³⁵After he had said this, he took bread; and giving thanks to God in the presence of all, he broke it and began to eat.

³⁶Then all of them were encouraged and took food for themselves.

³⁷(We were in all two hundred seventy-six persons in the ship.)

³⁸After they had satisfied their hunger, they lightened the ship by throwing the wheat into the sea.

³⁹In the morning they did not recognize the land, but they noticed a bay with a beach, on which they planned to run the ship ashore, if they could.

⁴⁰So they cast off the anchors and left them in the sea. At the same time they loosened the ropes that tied the steering-oars; then hoisting the foresail to the wind, they made for the beach.

⁴¹But striking a reef, they ran the ship aground; the bow stuck and remained immovable, but the stern was being broken up by the force of the waves.

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

⁴³but the centurion, wishing to save Paul, kept them from carrying out their plan. He ordered those who could swim to jump overboard first and make for the land,

⁴⁴and the rest to follow, some on planks and others on pieces of the ship. And so it was that all were brought safely to land.