Professor Horner’s Reading Plan

¹On that day Jesus went out of the house and was sitting by the sea.

²Such large crowds gathered around him that he got into a boat and sat down, while the whole crowd stood on the shore.

³Then he told them many things in parables, saying: “Consider the sower who went out to sow.

⁴As he sowed, some seed fell along the path, and the birds came and devoured them.

⁵Other seed fell on rocky ground where it didn’t have much soil, and it grew up quickly since the soil wasn’t deep.

⁶But when the sun came up, it was scorched, and since it had no root, it withered away.

⁷Other seed fell among thorns, and the thorns came up and choked it.

⁸Still other seed fell on good ground and produced fruit: some a hundred, some sixty, and some thirty times what was sown.

⁹Let anyone who has ears listen.”

¹⁰Then the disciples came up and asked him, “Why are you speaking to them in parables?”

¹¹He answered, “Because the secrets of the kingdom of heaven have been given for you to know, but it has not been given to them.

¹²For whoever has, more will be given to him, and he will have more than enough; but whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken away from him.

¹³That is why I speak to them in parables, because looking they do not see, and hearing they do not listen or understand.

¹⁴Isaiah’s prophecy is fulfilled in them, which says: You will listen and listen, but never understand; you will look and look, but never perceive.

¹⁵ For this people’s heart has grown callous; their ears are hard of hearing, and they have shut their eyes; otherwise they might see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their hearts, and turn back — and I would heal them.

¹⁶“Blessed are your eyes because they do see, and your ears because they do hear.

¹⁷For truly I tell you, many prophets and righteous people longed to see the things you see but didn’t see them, to hear the things you hear but didn’t hear them.

¹⁸“So listen to the parable of the sower:

¹⁹When anyone hears the word about the kingdom and doesn’t understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what was sown in his heart. This is the one sown along the path.

²⁰And the one sown on rocky ground — this is one who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy.

²¹But he has no root and is short-lived. When distress or persecution comes because of the word, immediately he falls away.

²²Now the one sown among the thorns — this is one who hears the word, but the worries of this age and the deceitfulness of wealth choke the word, and it becomes unfruitful.

²³But the one sown on the good ground — this is one who hears and understands the word, who does produce fruit and yields: some a hundred, some sixty, some thirty times what was sown.”

²⁴He presented another parable to them: “The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a man who sowed good seed in his field.

²⁵But while people were sleeping, his enemy came, sowed weeds among the wheat, and left.

²⁶When the plants sprouted and produced grain, then the weeds also appeared.

²⁷The landowner’s servants came to him and said, ‘Master, didn’t you sow good seed in your field? Then where did the weeds come from?’

²⁸“‘An enemy did this,’ he told them. “‘So, do you want us to go and pull them up? ’ the servants asked him.

²⁹“‘No,’ he said. ‘When you pull up the weeds, you might also uproot the wheat with them.

³⁰Let both grow together until the harvest. At harvest time I’ll tell the reapers: Gather the weeds first and tie them in bundles to burn them, but collect the wheat in my barn.’”

³¹He presented another parable to them: “The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed that a man took and sowed in his field.

³²It’s the smallest of all the seeds, but when grown, it’s taller than the garden plants and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the sky come and nest in its branches.”

³³He told them another parable: “The kingdom of heaven is like leaven that a woman took and mixed into fifty pounds of flour until all of it was leavened.”

³⁴Jesus told the crowds all these things in parables, and he did not tell them anything without a parable,

³⁵so that what was spoken through the prophet might be fulfilled: I will open my mouth in parables; I will declare things kept secret from the foundation of the world.

³⁶Then he left the crowds and went into the house. His disciples approached him and said, “Explain to us the parable of the weeds in the field.”

³⁷He replied: “The one who sows the good seed is the Son of Man;

³⁸the field is the world; and the good seed — these are the children of the kingdom. The weeds are the children of the evil one,

³⁹and the enemy who sowed them is the devil. The harvest is the end of the age, and the harvesters are angels.

⁴⁰Therefore, just as the weeds are gathered and burned in the fire, so it will be at the end of the age.

⁴¹The Son of Man will send out his angels, and they will gather from his kingdom all who cause sin and those guilty of lawlessness.

⁴²They will throw them into the blazing furnace where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

⁴³Then the righteous will shine like the sun in their Father’s kingdom. Let anyone who has ears listen.

⁴⁴“The kingdom of heaven is like treasure, buried in a field, that a man found and reburied. Then in his joy he goes and sells everything he has and buys that field.

⁴⁵“Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant in search of fine pearls.

⁴⁶When he found one priceless pearl, he went and sold everything he had and bought it.

⁴⁷“Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a large net thrown into the sea. It collected every kind of fish,

⁴⁸and when it was full, they dragged it ashore, sat down, and gathered the good fish into containers, but threw out the worthless ones.

⁴⁹So it will be at the end of the age. The angels will go out, separate the evil people from the righteous,

⁵⁰and throw them into the blazing furnace, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

⁵¹“Have you understood all these things?” They answered him, “Yes.”

⁵²“Therefore,” he said to them, “every teacher of the law who has become a disciple in the kingdom of heaven is like the owner of a house who brings out of his storeroom treasures new and old.”

⁵³When Jesus had finished these parables, he left there.

⁵⁴He went to his hometown and began to teach them in their synagogue, so that they were astonished and said, “Where did this man get this wisdom and these miraculous powers?

⁵⁵Isn’t this the carpenter’s son? Isn’t his mother called Mary, and his brothers James, Joseph, Simon, and Judas?

⁵⁶And his sisters, aren’t they all with us? So where does he get all these things?”

⁵⁷And they were offended by him. Jesus said to them, “A prophet is not without honor except in his hometown and in his household.”

⁵⁸And he did not do many miracles there because of their unbelief.

¹“If his offering is a fellowship sacrifice, and he is presenting an animal from the herd, whether male or female, he is to present one without blemish before the LORD.

²He is to lay his hand on the head of his offering and slaughter it at the entrance to the tent of meeting. Then Aaron’s sons the priests will splatter the blood on all sides of the altar.

³He will present part of the fellowship sacrifice as a fire offering to the LORD: the fat surrounding the entrails, all the fat that is on the entrails,

⁴and the two kidneys with the fat on them at the loins; he will also remove the fatty lobe of the liver with the kidneys.

⁵Aaron’s sons will burn it on the altar along with the burnt offering that is on the burning wood, a fire offering of a pleasing aroma to the LORD.

⁶“If his offering as a fellowship sacrifice to the LORD is from the flock, he is to present a male or female without blemish.

⁷If he is presenting a lamb for his offering, he is to present it before the LORD.

⁸He must lay his hand on the head of his offering, then slaughter it before the tent of meeting. Aaron’s sons will splatter its blood on all sides of the altar.

⁹He will then present part of the fellowship sacrifice as a fire offering to the LORD consisting of its fat and the entire fat tail, which he is to remove close to the backbone. He will also remove the fat surrounding the entrails, all the fat on the entrails,

¹⁰the two kidneys with the fat on them at the loins, and the fatty lobe of the liver above the kidneys.

¹¹Then the priest will burn the food on the altar, as a fire offering to the LORD.

¹²“If his offering is a goat, he is to present it before the LORD.

¹³He must lay his hand on its head and slaughter it before the tent of meeting. Aaron’s sons will splatter its blood on all sides of the altar.

¹⁴He will present part of his offering as a fire offering to the LORD: the fat surrounding the entrails, all the fat that is on the entrails,

¹⁵and the two kidneys with the fat on them at the loins; he will also remove the fatty lobe of the liver with the kidneys.

¹⁶Then the priest will burn the food on the altar, as a fire offering for a pleasing aroma. “All fat belongs to the LORD.

¹⁷This is a permanent statute throughout your generations, wherever you live: you must not eat any fat or any blood.”

¹Paul, an apostle — not from men or by man, but by Jesus Christ and God the Father who raised him from the dead  —

²and all the brothers who are with me: To the churches of Galatia.

³Grace to you and peace from God the Father and our Lord Jesus Christ,

⁴who gave himself for our sins to rescue us from this present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father.

⁵To him be the glory forever and ever. Amen.

⁶I am amazed that you are so quickly turning away from him who called you by the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel —

⁷not that there is another gospel, but there are some who are troubling you and want to distort the gospel of Christ.

⁸But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach to you a gospel contrary to what we have preached to you, a curse be on him!

⁹As we have said before, I now say again: If anyone is preaching to you a gospel contrary to what you received, a curse be on him!

¹⁰For am I now trying to persuade people, or God? Or am I striving to please people? If I were still trying to please people, I would not be a servant of Christ.

¹¹For I want you to know, brothers and sisters, that the gospel preached by me is not of human origin.

¹²For I did not receive it from a human source and I was not taught it, but it came by a revelation of Jesus Christ.

¹³For you have heard about my former way of life in Judaism: I intensely persecuted God’s church and tried to destroy it.

¹⁴I advanced in Judaism beyond many contemporaries among my people, because I was extremely zealous for the traditions of my ancestors.

¹⁵But when God, who from my mother’s womb set me apart and called me by his grace, was pleased

¹⁶to reveal his Son in me, so that I could preach him among the Gentiles, I did not immediately consult with anyone.

¹⁷I did not go up to Jerusalem to those who had become apostles before me; instead I went to Arabia and came back to Damascus.

¹⁸Then after three years I did go up to Jerusalem to get to know Cephas, and I stayed with him fifteen days.

¹⁹But I didn’t see any of the other apostles except James, the Lord’s brother.

²⁰I declare in the sight of God: I am not lying in what I write to you.

²¹Afterward, I went to the regions of Syria and Cilicia.

²²I remained personally unknown to the Judean churches that are in Christ.

²³They simply kept hearing: “He who formerly persecuted us now preaches the faith he once tried to destroy.”

²⁴And they glorified God because of me.

¹But you are to proclaim things consistent with sound teaching.

²Older men are to be self-controlled, worthy of respect, sensible, and sound in faith, love, and endurance.

³In the same way, older women are to be reverent in behavior, not slanderers, not slaves to excessive drinking. They are to teach what is good,

⁴so that they may encourage the young women to love their husbands and to love their children,

⁵to be self-controlled, pure, workers at home, kind, and in submission to their husbands, so that God’s word will not be slandered.

⁶In the same way, encourage the young men to be self-controlled

⁷in everything. Make yourself an example of good works with integrity and dignity in your teaching.

⁸Your message is to be sound beyond reproach, so that any opponent will be ashamed, because he doesn’t have anything bad to say about us.

⁹Slaves are to submit to their masters in everything, and to be well-pleasing, not talking back

¹⁰or stealing, but demonstrating utter faithfulness, so that they may adorn the teaching of God our Savior in everything.

¹¹For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people,

¹²instructing us to deny godlessness and worldly lusts and to live in a sensible, righteous, and godly way in the present age,

¹³while we wait for the blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ.

¹⁴He gave himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to cleanse for himself a people for his own possession, eager to do good works.

¹⁵Proclaim these things; encourage and rebuke with all authority. Let no one disregard you.

¹So these three men quit answering Job, because he was righteous in his own eyes.

²Then Elihu son of Barachel the Buzite from the family of Ram became angry. He was angry at Job because he had justified himself rather than God.

³He was also angry at Job’s three friends because they had failed to refute him and yet had condemned him.

⁴Now Elihu had waited to speak to Job because they were all older than he.

⁵But when he saw that the three men could not answer Job, he became angry.

⁶So Elihu son of Barachel the Buzite replied: I am young in years, while you are old; therefore I was timid and afraid to tell you what I know.

⁷I thought that age should speak and maturity should teach wisdom.

⁸But it is the spirit in a person— the breath from the Almighty— that gives anyone understanding.

⁹It is not only the old who are wise or the elderly who understand how to judge.

¹⁰Therefore I say, “Listen to me. I too will declare what I know.”

¹¹Look, I waited for your conclusions; I listened to your insights as you sought for words.

¹²I paid close attention to you. Yet no one proved Job wrong; not one of you refuted his arguments.

¹³So do not claim, “We have found wisdom; let God deal with him, not man.”

¹⁴But Job has not directed his argument to me, and I will not respond to him with your arguments.

¹⁵Job’s friends are dismayed and can no longer answer; words have left them.

¹⁶Should I continue to wait now that they are silent, now that they stand there and no longer answer?

¹⁷I too will answer; yes, I will tell what I know.

¹⁸For I am full of words, and my spirit compels me to speak.

¹⁹My heart is like unvented wine; it is about to burst like new wineskins.

²⁰I must speak so that I can find relief; I must open my lips and respond.

²¹I will be partial to no one, and I will not give anyone an undeserved title.

²²For I do not know how to give such titles; otherwise, my Maker would remove me in an instant.

¹A song of ascents. [1] Out of the depths I call to you, LORD!

²Lord, listen to my voice; let your ears be attentive to my cry for help.

³LORD, if you kept an account of iniquities, Lord, who could stand?

⁴But with you there is forgiveness, so that you may be revered.

⁵I wait for the LORD; I wait and put my hope in his word.

⁶I wait for the Lord more than watchmen for the morning — more than watchmen for the morning.

⁷Israel, put your hope in the LORD. For there is faithful love with the LORD, and with him is redemption in abundance.

⁸And he will redeem Israel from all its iniquities.

¹The proverbs of Solomon son of David, king of Israel:

²For learning wisdom and discipline; for understanding insightful sayings;

³for receiving prudent instruction in righteousness, justice, and integrity;

⁴for teaching shrewdness to the inexperienced, knowledge and discretion to a young man —

⁵let a wise person listen and increase learning, and let a discerning person obtain guidance —

⁶for understanding a proverb or a parable, the words of the wise, and their riddles.

⁷The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge; fools despise wisdom and discipline.

⁸Listen, my son, to your father’s instruction, and don’t reject your mother’s teaching,

⁹for they will be a garland of favor on your head and pendants around your neck.

¹⁰My son, if sinners entice you, don’t be persuaded.

¹¹If they say — “Come with us! Let’s set an ambush and kill someone. Let’s attack some innocent person just for fun!

¹²Let’s swallow them alive, like Sheol, whole, like those who go down to the Pit.

¹³We’ll find all kinds of valuable property and fill our houses with plunder.

¹⁴Throw in your lot with us, and we’ll all share the loot”  —

¹⁵my son, don’t travel that road with them or set foot on their path,

¹⁶because their feet run toward evil and they hurry to shed blood.

¹⁷It is useless to spread a net where any bird can see it,

¹⁸but they set an ambush to kill themselves; they attack their own lives.

¹⁹Such are the paths of all who make profit dishonestly; it takes the lives of those who receive it.

²⁰Wisdom calls out in the street; she makes her voice heard in the public squares.

²¹She cries out above the commotion; she speaks at the entrance of the city gates:

²²“How long, inexperienced ones, will you love ignorance? How long will you mockers enjoy mocking and you fools hate knowledge?

²³If you respond to my warning, then I will pour out my spirit on you and teach you my words.

²⁴Since I called out and you refused, extended my hand and no one paid attention,

²⁵since you neglected all my counsel and did not accept my correction,

²⁶I, in turn, will laugh at your calamity. I will mock when terror strikes you,

²⁷when terror strikes you like a storm and your calamity comes like a whirlwind, when trouble and stress overcome you.

²⁸Then they will call me, but I won’t answer; they will search for me, but won’t find me.

²⁹Because they hated knowledge, didn’t choose to fear the LORD,

³⁰were not interested in my counsel, and rejected all my correction,

³¹they will eat the fruit of their way and be glutted with their own schemes.

³²For the apostasy of the inexperienced will kill them, and the complacency of fools will destroy them.

³³But whoever listens to me will live securely and be undisturbed by the dread of danger.”

¹Jerubbaal (that is, Gideon) and all the troops who were with him, got up early and camped beside the spring of Harod. The camp of Midian was north of them, below the hill of Moreh, in the valley.

²The LORD said to Gideon, “You have too many troops for me to hand the Midianites over to them, or else Israel might elevate themselves over me and say, ‘My own strength saved me.’

³Now announce to the troops: ‘Whoever is fearful and trembling may turn back and leave Mount Gilead.’” So twenty-two thousand of the troops turned back, but ten thousand remained.

⁴Then the LORD said to Gideon, “There are still too many troops. Take them down to the water, and I will test them for you there. If I say to you, ‘This one can go with you,’ he can go. But if I say about anyone, ‘This one cannot go with you,’ he cannot go.”

⁵So he brought the troops down to the water, and the LORD said to Gideon, “Separate everyone who laps water with his tongue like a dog. Do the same with everyone who kneels to drink.”

⁶The number of those who lapped with their hands to their mouths was three hundred men, and all the rest of the troops knelt to drink water.

⁷The LORD said to Gideon, “I will deliver you with the three hundred men who lapped and hand the Midianites over to you. But everyone else is to go home.”

⁸So Gideon sent all the Israelites to their tents but kept the three hundred troops, who took the provisions and their trumpets. The camp of Midian was below him in the valley.

⁹That night the LORD said to him, “Get up and attack the camp, for I have handed it over to you.

¹⁰But if you are afraid to attack the camp, go down with Purah your servant.

¹¹Listen to what they say, and then you will be encouraged to attack the camp.” So he went down with Purah his servant to the outpost of the troops who were in the camp.

¹²Now the Midianites, Amalekites, and all the Qedemites had settled down in the valley like a swarm of locusts, and their camels were as innumerable as the sand on the seashore.

¹³When Gideon arrived, there was a man telling his friend about a dream. He said, “Listen, I had a dream: a loaf of barley bread came tumbling into the Midianite camp, struck a tent, and it fell. The loaf turned the tent upside down so that it collapsed.”

¹⁴His friend answered: “This is nothing less than the sword of Gideon son of Joash, the Israelite. God has handed the entire Midianite camp over to him.”

¹⁵When Gideon heard the account of the dream and its interpretation, he bowed in worship. He returned to Israel’s camp and said, “Get up, for the LORD has handed the Midianite camp over to you.”

¹⁶Then he divided the three hundred men into three companies and gave each of the men a trumpet in one hand and an empty pitcher with a torch inside it in the other hand.

¹⁷“Watch me,” he said to them, “and do what I do. When I come to the outpost of the camp, do as I do.

¹⁸When I and everyone with me blow our trumpets, you are also to blow your trumpets all around the camp. Then you will say, ‘For the LORD and for Gideon! ’”

¹⁹Gideon and the hundred men who were with him went to the outpost of the camp at the beginning of the middle watch after the sentries had been stationed. They blew their trumpets and broke the pitchers that were in their hands.

²⁰The three companies blew their trumpets and shattered their pitchers. They held their torches in their left hands, their trumpets in their right hands, and shouted, “A sword for the LORD and for Gideon!”

²¹Each Israelite took his position around the camp, and the entire Midianite army began to run, and they cried out as they fled.

²²When Gideon’s men blew their three hundred trumpets, the LORD caused the men in the whole army to turn on each other with their swords. They fled to Acacia House in the direction of Zererah as far as the border of Abel-meholah near Tabbath.

²³Then the men of Israel were called from Naphtali, Asher, and Manasseh, and they pursued the Midianites.

²⁴Gideon sent messengers throughout the hill country of Ephraim with this message: “Come down to intercept the Midianites and take control of the watercourses ahead of them as far as Beth-barah and the Jordan.” So all the men of Ephraim were called out, and they took control of the watercourses as far as Beth-barah and the Jordan.

²⁵They captured Oreb and Zeeb, the two princes of Midian; they killed Oreb at the rock of Oreb and Zeeb at the winepress of Zeeb, while they were pursuing the Midianites. They brought the heads of Oreb and Zeeb to Gideon across the Jordan.

¹Woe to the rebellious children! This is the LORD’s declaration. They carry out a plan, but not mine; they make an alliance, but against my will, piling sin on top of sin.

²Without asking my advice they set out to go down to Egypt in order to seek shelter under Pharaoh’s protection and take refuge in Egypt’s shadow.

³But Pharaoh’s protection will become your shame, and refuge in Egypt’s shadow your humiliation.

⁴For though his princes are at Zoan and his messengers reach as far as Hanes,

⁵everyone will be ashamed because of a people who can’t help. They are of no benefit, they are no help; they are good for nothing but shame and disgrace.

⁶A pronouncement concerning the animals of the Negev: Through a land of trouble and distress, of lioness and lion, of viper and flying serpent, they carry their wealth on the backs of donkeys and their treasures on the humps of camels, to a people who will not help them.

⁷Egypt’s help is completely worthless; therefore, I call her: Rahab Who Just Sits.

⁸Go now, write it on a tablet in their presence and inscribe it on a scroll; it will be for the future, forever and ever.

⁹They are a rebellious people, deceptive children, children who do not want to listen to the LORD’s instruction.

¹⁰They say to the seers, “Do not see,” and to the prophets, “Do not prophesy the truth to us. Tell us flattering things. Prophesy illusions.

¹¹Get out of the way! Leave the pathway. Rid us of the Holy One of Israel.”

¹²Therefore the Holy One of Israel says: “Because you have rejected this message and have trusted in oppression and deceit, and have depended on them,

¹³this iniquity of yours will be like a crumbling gap, a bulge in a high wall whose collapse will come in an instant — suddenly!

¹⁴Its collapse will be like the shattering of a potter’s jar, crushed to pieces, so that not even a fragment of pottery will be found among its shattered remains — no fragment large enough to take fire from a hearth or scoop water from a cistern.”

¹⁵For the Lord GOD, the Holy One of Israel, has said: “You will be delivered by returning and resting; your strength will lie in quiet confidence. But you are not willing.”

¹⁶You say, “No! We will escape on horses” — therefore you will escape! — and, “We will ride on fast horses” — but those who pursue you will be faster.

¹⁷One thousand will flee at the threat of one, at the threat of five you will flee, until you remain like a solitary pole on a mountaintop or a banner on a hill.

¹⁸Therefore the LORD is waiting to show you mercy, and is rising up to show you compassion, for the LORD is a just God. All who wait patiently for him are happy.

¹⁹For people will live on Zion in Jerusalem. You will never weep again; he will show favor to you at the sound of your outcry; as soon as he hears, he will answer you.

²⁰The Lord will give you meager bread and water during oppression, but your Teacher will not hide any longer. Your eyes will see your Teacher,

²¹and whenever you turn to the right or to the left, your ears will hear this command behind you: “This is the way. Walk in it.”

²²Then you will defile your silver-plated idols and your gold-plated images. You will throw them away like menstrual cloths, and call them filth.

²³Then he will send rain for your seed that you have sown in the ground, and the food, the produce of the ground, will be rich and plentiful. On that day your cattle will graze in open pastures.

²⁴The oxen and donkeys that work the ground will eat salted fodder scattered with winnowing shovel and fork.

²⁵Streams flowing with water will be on every high mountain and every raised hill on the day of great slaughter when the towers fall.

²⁶The moonlight will be as bright as the sunlight, and the sunlight will be seven times brighter  — like the light of seven days — on the day that the LORD bandages his people’s injuries and heals the wounds he inflicted.

²⁷Look there! The LORD is coming from far away, his anger burning and heavy with smoke. His lips are full of fury, and his tongue is like a consuming fire.

²⁸His breath is like an overflowing torrent that rises to the neck. He comes to sift the nations in a sieve of destruction and to put a bridle on the jaws of the peoples to lead them astray.

²⁹Your singing will be like that on the night of a holy festival, and your heart will rejoice like one who walks to the music of a flute, going up to the mountain of the LORD, to the Rock of Israel.

³⁰And the LORD will make the splendor of his voice heard and reveal his arm striking in angry wrath and a flame of consuming fire, in driving rain, a torrent, and hailstones.

³¹Assyria will be shattered by the voice of the LORD. He will strike with a rod.

³²And every stroke of the appointed staff that the LORD brings down on him will be to the sound of tambourines and lyres; he will fight against him with brandished weapons.

³³Indeed! Topheth has been ready for the king for a long time. Its funeral pyre is deep and wide, with plenty of fire and wood. The breath of the LORD, like a torrent of burning sulfur, kindles it.

¹Once safely ashore, we then learned that the island was called Malta.

²The local people showed us extraordinary kindness. They lit a fire and took us all in, since it was raining and cold.

³As Paul gathered a bundle of brushwood and put it on the fire, a viper came out because of the heat and fastened itself on his hand.

⁴When the local people saw the snake hanging from his hand, they said to one another, “This man, no doubt, is a murderer. Even though he has escaped the sea, Justice has not allowed him to live.”

⁵But he shook the snake off into the fire and suffered no harm.

⁶They expected that he would begin to swell up or suddenly drop dead. After they waited a long time and saw nothing unusual happen to him, they changed their minds and said he was a god.

⁷Now in the area around that place was an estate belonging to the leading man of the island, named Publius, who welcomed us and entertained us hospitably for three days.

⁸Publius’s father was in bed suffering from fever and dysentery. Paul went to him, and praying and laying his hands on him, he healed him.

⁹After this, the rest of those on the island who had diseases also came and were healed.

¹⁰So they heaped many honors on us, and when we sailed, they gave us what we needed.

¹¹After three months we set sail in an Alexandrian ship that had wintered at the island, with the Twin Gods as its figurehead.

¹²Putting in at Syracuse, we stayed three days.

¹³From there, after making a circuit along the coast, we reached Rhegium. After one day a south wind sprang up, and the second day we came to Puteoli.

¹⁴There we found brothers and sisters and were invited to stay a week with them. And so we came to Rome.

¹⁵Now the brothers and sisters from there had heard the news about us and had come to meet us as far as the Forum of Appius and the Three Taverns. When Paul saw them, he thanked God and took courage.

¹⁶When we entered Rome, Paul was allowed to live by himself with the soldier who guarded him.

¹⁷After three days he called together the leaders of the Jews. When they had gathered he said to them: “Brothers, although I have done nothing against our people or the customs of our ancestors, I was delivered as a prisoner from Jerusalem into the hands of the Romans.

¹⁸After they examined me, they wanted to release me, since there was no reason for the death penalty in my case.

¹⁹Because the Jews objected, I was compelled to appeal to Caesar; even though I had no charge to bring against my people.

²⁰For this reason I’ve asked to see you and speak to you. In fact, it is for the hope of Israel that I’m wearing this chain.”

²¹Then they said to him, “We haven’t received any letters about you from Judea. None of the brothers has come and reported or spoken anything evil about you.

²²But we want to hear what your views are, since we know that people everywhere are speaking against this sect.”

²³After arranging a day with him, many came to him at his lodging. From dawn to dusk he expounded and testified about the kingdom of God. He tried to persuade them about Jesus from both the Law of Moses and the Prophets.

²⁴Some were persuaded by what he said, but others did not believe.

²⁵Disagreeing among themselves, they began to leave after Paul made one statement: “The Holy Spirit was right in saying to your ancestors through the prophet Isaiah

²⁶when he said, Go to these people and say: You will always be listening, but never understanding; and you will always be looking, but never perceiving.

²⁷For the hearts of these people have grown callous, their ears are hard of hearing, and they have shut their eyes; otherwise they might see with their eyes and hear with their ears, understand with their heart and turn, and I would heal them.

²⁸Therefore, let it be known to you that this salvation of God has been sent to the Gentiles; they will listen.”

²⁹

³⁰Paul stayed two whole years in his own rented house. And he welcomed all who visited him,

³¹proclaiming the kingdom of God and teaching about the Lord Jesus Christ with all boldness and without hindrance.