Professor Horner’s Reading Plan

¹After the Sabbath, as the first day of the week was dawning, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to view the tomb.

²There was a violent earthquake, because an angel of the Lord descended from heaven and approached the tomb. He rolled back the stone and was sitting on it.

³His appearance was like lightning, and his clothing was as white as snow.

⁴The guards were so shaken by fear of him that they became like dead men.

⁵The angel told the women, “Don’t be afraid, because I know you are looking for Jesus who was crucified.

⁶He is not here. For he has risen, just as he said. Come and see the place where he lay.

⁷Then go quickly and tell his disciples, ‘He has risen from the dead and indeed he is going ahead of you to Galilee; you will see him there.’ Listen, I have told you.”

⁸So, departing quickly from the tomb with fear and great joy, they ran to tell his disciples the news.

⁹Just then Jesus met them and said, “Greetings!” They came up, took hold of his feet, and worshiped him.

¹⁰Then Jesus told them, “Do not be afraid. Go and tell my brothers to leave for Galilee, and they will see me there.”

¹¹As they were on their way, some of the guards came into the city and reported to the chief priests everything that had happened.

¹²After the priests had assembled with the elders and agreed on a plan, they gave the soldiers a large sum of money

¹³and told them, “Say this, ‘His disciples came during the night and stole him while we were sleeping.’

¹⁴If this reaches the governor’s ears, we will deal with him and keep you out of trouble.”

¹⁵They took the money and did as they were instructed, and this story has been spread among Jewish people to this day.

¹⁶The eleven disciples traveled to Galilee, to the mountain where Jesus had directed them.

¹⁷When they saw him, they worshiped, but some doubted.

¹⁸Jesus came near and said to them, “All authority has been given to me in heaven and on earth.

¹⁹Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,

²⁰teaching them to observe everything I have commanded you. And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

¹So Isaac summoned Jacob, blessed him, and commanded him, “Do not marry a Canaanite girl.

²Go at once to Paddan-aram, to the house of Bethuel, your mother’s father. Marry one of the daughters of Laban, your mother’s brother.

³May God Almighty bless you and make you fruitful and multiply you so that you become an assembly of peoples.

⁴May God give you and your offspring the blessing of Abraham so that you may possess the land where you live as a foreigner, the land God gave to Abraham.”

⁵So Isaac sent Jacob to Paddan-aram, to Laban son of Bethuel the Aramean, the brother of Rebekah, the mother of Jacob and Esau.

⁶Esau noticed that Isaac blessed Jacob and sent him to Paddan-aram to get a wife there. When he blessed him, Isaac commanded Jacob, “Do not marry a Canaanite girl.”

⁷And Jacob listened to his father and mother and went to Paddan-aram.

⁸Esau realized that his father Isaac disapproved of the Canaanite women,

⁹so Esau went to Ishmael and married, in addition to his other wives, Mahalath daughter of Ishmael, Abraham’s son. She was the sister of Nebaioth.

¹⁰Jacob left Beer-sheba and went toward Haran.

¹¹He reached a certain place and spent the night there because the sun had set. He took one of the stones from the place, put it there at his head, and lay down in that place.

¹²And he dreamed: A stairway was set on the ground with its top reaching the sky, and God’s angels were going up and down on it.

¹³The LORD was standing there beside him, saying, “I am the LORD, the God of your father Abraham and the God of Isaac. I will give you and your offspring the land on which you are lying.

¹⁴Your offspring will be like the dust of the earth, and you will spread out toward the west, the east, the north, and the south. All the peoples on earth will be blessed through you and your offspring.

¹⁵Look, I am with you and will watch over you wherever you go. I will bring you back to this land, for I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you.”

¹⁶When Jacob awoke from his sleep, he said, “Surely the LORD is in this place, and I did not know it.”

¹⁷He was afraid and said, “What an awesome place this is! This is none other than the house of God. This is the gate of heaven.”

¹⁸Early in the morning Jacob took the stone that was near his head and set it up as a marker. He poured oil on top of it

¹⁹and named the place Bethel, though previously the city was named Luz.

²⁰Then Jacob made a vow: “If God will be with me and watch over me during this journey I’m making, if he provides me with food to eat and clothing to wear,

²¹and if I return safely to my father’s family, then the LORD will be my God.

²²This stone that I have set up as a marker will be God’s house, and I will give to you a tenth of all that you give me.”

¹Now concerning spiritual gifts: brothers and sisters, I do not want you to be unaware.

²You know that when you were pagans, you used to be enticed and led astray by mute idols.

³Therefore I want you to know that no one speaking by the Spirit of God says, “Jesus is cursed,” and no one can say, “Jesus is Lord,” except by the Holy Spirit.

⁴Now there are different gifts, but the same Spirit.

⁵There are different ministries, but the same Lord.

⁶And there are different activities, but the same God produces each gift in each person.

⁷A manifestation of the Spirit is given to each person for the common good:

⁸to one is given a message of wisdom through the Spirit, to another, a message of knowledge by the same Spirit,

⁹to another, faith by the same Spirit, to another, gifts of healing by the one Spirit,

¹⁰to another, the performing of miracles, to another, prophecy, to another, distinguishing between spirits, to another, different kinds of tongues, to another, interpretation of tongues.

¹¹One and the same Spirit is active in all these, distributing to each person as he wills.

¹²For just as the body is one and has many parts, and all the parts of that body, though many, are one body — so also is Christ.

¹³For we were all baptized by one Spirit into one body — whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free — and we were all given one Spirit to drink.

¹⁴Indeed, the body is not one part but many.

¹⁵If the foot should say, “Because I’m not a hand, I don’t belong to the body,” it is not for that reason any less a part of the body.

¹⁶And if the ear should say, “Because I’m not an eye, I don’t belong to the body,” it is not for that reason any less a part of the body.

¹⁷If the whole body were an eye, where would the hearing be? If the whole body were an ear, where would the sense of smell be?

¹⁸But as it is, God has arranged each one of the parts in the body just as he wanted.

¹⁹And if they were all the same part, where would the body be?

²⁰As it is, there are many parts, but one body.

²¹The eye cannot say to the hand, “I don’t need you!” Or again, the head can’t say to the feet, “I don’t need you!”

²²On the contrary, those parts of the body that are weaker are indispensable.

²³And those parts of the body that we consider less honorable, we clothe these with greater honor, and our unrespectable parts are treated with greater respect,

²⁴which our respectable parts do not need. Instead, God has put the body together, giving greater honor to the less honorable,

²⁵so that there would be no division in the body, but that the members would have the same concern for each other.

²⁶So if one member suffers, all the members suffer with it; if one member is honored, all the members rejoice with it.

²⁷Now you are the body of Christ, and individual members of it.

²⁸And God has appointed these in the church: first apostles, second prophets, third teachers, next miracles, then gifts of healing, helping, administrating, various kinds of tongues.

²⁹Are all apostles? Are all prophets? Are all teachers? Do all do miracles?

³⁰Do all have gifts of healing? Do all speak in other tongues? Do all interpret?

³¹But desire the greater gifts. And I will show you an even better way.

¹Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ: To those chosen, living as exiles dispersed abroad in Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia, chosen

²according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through the sanctifying work of the Spirit, to be obedient and to be sprinkled with the blood of Jesus Christ. May grace and peace be multiplied to you.

³Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. Because of his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead

⁴and into an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you.

⁵You are being guarded by God’s power through faith for a salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time.

⁶You rejoice in this, even though now for a short time, if necessary, you suffer grief in various trials

⁷so that the proven character of your faith  — more valuable than gold which, though perishable, is refined by fire  — may result in praise, glory, and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ.

⁸Though you have not seen him, you love him; though not seeing him now, you believe in him, and you rejoice with inexpressible and glorious joy,

⁹because you are receiving the goal of your faith, the salvation of your souls.

¹⁰Concerning this salvation, the prophets, who prophesied about the grace that would come to you, searched and carefully investigated.

¹¹They inquired into what time or what circumstances the Spirit of Christ within them was indicating when he testified in advance to the sufferings of Christ and the glories that would follow.

¹²It was revealed to them that they were not serving themselves but you. These things have now been announced to you through those who preached the gospel to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven  — angels long to catch a glimpse of these things.

¹³Therefore, with your minds ready for action, be sober-minded and set your hope completely on the grace to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ.

¹⁴As obedient children, do not be conformed to the desires of your former ignorance.

¹⁵But as the one who called you is holy, you also are to be holy in all your conduct;

¹⁶for it is written, Be holy, because I am holy.

¹⁷If you appeal to the Father who judges impartially according to each one’s work, you are to conduct yourselves in reverence during your time living as strangers.

¹⁸For you know that you were redeemed from your empty way of life inherited from your fathers, not with perishable things like silver or gold,

¹⁹but with the precious blood of Christ, like that of an unblemished and spotless lamb.

²⁰He was foreknown before the foundation of the world but was revealed in these last times for you.

²¹Through him you believe in God, who raised him from the dead and gave him glory, so that your faith and hope are in God.

²²Since you have purified yourselves by your obedience to the truth, so that you show sincere brotherly love for each other, from a pure heart love one another constantly,

²³because you have been born again  — not of perishable seed but of imperishable — through the living and enduring word of God.

²⁴For All flesh is like grass, and all its glory like a flower of the grass. The grass withers, and the flower falls,

²⁵but the word of the Lord endures forever. And this word is the gospel that was proclaimed to you.

¹Surely there is a mine for silver and a place where gold is refined.

²Iron is taken from the ground, and copper is smelted from ore.

³A miner puts an end to the darkness; he probes the deepest recesses for ore in the gloomy darkness.

⁴He cuts a shaft far from human habitation, in places unknown to those who walk above ground. Suspended far away from people, the miners swing back and forth.

⁵Food may come from the earth, but below the surface the earth is transformed as by fire.

⁶Its rocks are a source of lapis lazuli, containing flecks of gold.

⁷No bird of prey knows that path; no falcon’s eye has seen it.

⁸Proud beasts have never walked on it; no lion has ever prowled over it.

⁹The miner uses a flint tool and turns up ore from the root of the mountains.

¹⁰He cuts out channels in the rocks, and his eyes spot every treasure.

¹¹He dams up the streams from flowing so that he may bring to light what is hidden.

¹²But where can wisdom be found, and where is understanding located?

¹³No one can know its value, since it cannot be found in the land of the living.

¹⁴The ocean depths say, “It’s not in me,” while the sea declares, “I don’t have it.”

¹⁵Gold cannot be exchanged for it, and silver cannot be weighed out for its price.

¹⁶Wisdom cannot be valued in the gold of Ophir, in precious onyx or lapis lazuli.

¹⁷Gold and glass do not compare with it, and articles of fine gold cannot be exchanged for it.

¹⁸Coral and quartz are not worth mentioning. The price of wisdom is beyond pearls.

¹⁹Topaz from Cush cannot compare with it, and it cannot be valued in pure gold.

²⁰Where then does wisdom come from, and where is understanding located?

²¹It is hidden from the eyes of every living thing and concealed from the birds of the sky.

²²Abaddon and Death say, “We have heard news of it with our ears.”

²³But God understands the way to wisdom, and he knows its location.

²⁴For he looks to the ends of the earth and sees everything under the heavens.

²⁵When God fixed the weight of the wind and distributed the water by measure,

²⁶when he established a limit for the rain and a path for the lightning,

²⁷he considered wisdom and evaluated it; he established it and examined it.

²⁸He said to mankind, “The fear of the LORD—that is wisdom. And to turn from evil is understanding.”

¹Of David. [1] LORD, I call to you; my rock, do not be deaf to me. If you remain silent to me, I will be like those going down to the Pit.

²Listen to the sound of my pleading when I cry to you for help, when I lift up my hands toward your holy sanctuary.

³Do not drag me away with the wicked, with the evildoers, who speak in friendly ways with their neighbors while malice is in their hearts.

⁴Repay them according to what they have done — according to the evil of their deeds. Repay them according to the work of their hands; give them back what they deserve.

⁵Because they do not consider what the LORD has done or the work of his hands, he will tear them down and not rebuild them.

⁶Blessed be the LORD, for he has heard the sound of my pleading.

⁷The LORD is my strength and my shield; my heart trusts in him, and I am helped. Therefore my heart celebrates, and I give thanks to him with my song.

⁸The LORD is the strength of his people; he is a stronghold of salvation for his anointed.

⁹Save your people, bless your possession, shepherd them, and carry them forever.

¹The wicked flee when no one is pursuing them, but the righteous are as bold as a lion.

²When a land is in rebellion, it has many rulers, but with a discerning and knowledgeable person, it endures.

³A destitute leader who oppresses the poor is like a driving rain that leaves no food.

⁴Those who reject the law praise the wicked, but those who keep the law pit themselves against them.

⁵The evil do not understand justice, but those who seek the LORD understand everything.

⁶Better the poor person who lives with integrity than the rich one who distorts right and wrong.

⁷A discerning son keeps the law, but a companion of gluttons humiliates his father.

⁸Whoever increases his wealth through excessive interest collects it for one who is kind to the poor.

⁹Anyone who turns his ear away from hearing the law — even his prayer is detestable.

¹⁰The one who leads the upright into an evil way will fall into his own pit, but the blameless will inherit what is good.

¹¹A rich person is wise in his own eyes, but a poor one who has discernment sees through him.

¹²When the righteous triumph, there is great rejoicing, but when the wicked come to power, people hide.

¹³The one who conceals his sins will not prosper, but whoever confesses and renounces them will find mercy.

¹⁴Happy is the one who is always reverent, but one who hardens his heart falls into trouble.

¹⁵A wicked ruler over a helpless people is like a roaring lion or a charging bear.

¹⁶A leader who lacks understanding is very oppressive, but one who hates dishonest profit prolongs his life.

¹⁷Someone burdened by bloodguilt will be a fugitive until death. Let no one help him.

¹⁸The one who lives with integrity will be helped, but one who distorts right and wrong will suddenly fall.

¹⁹The one who works his land will have plenty of food, but whoever chases fantasies will have his fill of poverty.

²⁰A faithful person will have many blessings, but one in a hurry to get rich will not go unpunished.

²¹It is not good to show partiality  — yet even a courageous person may sin for a piece of bread.

²²A greedy one is in a hurry for wealth; he doesn’t know that poverty will come to him.

²³One who rebukes a person will later find more favor than one who flatters with his tongue.

²⁴The one who robs his father or mother and says, “That’s no sin,” is a companion to a person who destroys.

²⁵A greedy person stirs up conflict, but whoever trusts in the LORD will prosper.

²⁶The one who trusts in himself is a fool, but one who walks in wisdom will be safe.

²⁷The one who gives to the poor will not be in need, but one who turns his eyes away will receive many curses.

²⁸When the wicked come to power, people hide, but when they are destroyed, the righteous flourish.

¹The Israelites again did what was evil in the sight of the LORD after Ehud had died.

²So the LORD sold them to King Jabin of Canaan, who reigned in Hazor. The commander of his army was Sisera who lived in Harosheth of the Nations.

³Then the Israelites cried out to the LORD, because Jabin had nine hundred iron chariots, and he harshly oppressed them twenty years.

⁴Deborah, a prophetess and the wife of Lappidoth, was judging Israel at that time.

⁵She would sit under the palm tree of Deborah between Ramah and Bethel in the hill country of Ephraim, and the Israelites went up to her to settle disputes.

⁶She summoned Barak son of Abinoam from Kedesh in Naphtali and said to him, “Hasn’t the LORD, the God of Israel, commanded you: ‘Go, deploy the troops on Mount Tabor, and take with you ten thousand men from the Naphtalites and Zebulunites?

⁷Then I will lure Sisera commander of Jabin’s army, his chariots, and his infantry at the Wadi Kishon to fight against you, and I will hand him over to you.’”

⁸Barak said to her, “If you will go with me, I will go. But if you will not go with me, I will not go.”

⁹“I will gladly go with you,” she said, “but you will receive no honor on the road you are about to take, because the LORD will sell Sisera to a woman.” So Deborah got up and went with Barak to Kedesh.

¹⁰Barak summoned Zebulun and Naphtali to Kedesh; ten thousand men followed him, and Deborah also went with him.

¹¹Now Heber the Kenite had moved away from the Kenites, the sons of Hobab, Moses’s father-in-law, and pitched his tent beside the oak tree of Zaanannim, which was near Kedesh.

¹²It was reported to Sisera that Barak son of Abinoam had gone up Mount Tabor.

¹³Sisera summoned all his nine hundred iron chariots and all the troops who were with him from Harosheth of the Nations to the Wadi Kishon.

¹⁴Then Deborah said to Barak, “Go! This is the day the LORD has handed Sisera over to you. Hasn’t the LORD gone before you?” So Barak came down from Mount Tabor with ten thousand men following him.

¹⁵The LORD threw Sisera, all his charioteers, and all his army into a panic before Barak’s assault. Sisera left his chariot and fled on foot.

¹⁶Barak pursued the chariots and the army as far as Harosheth of the Nations, and the whole army of Sisera fell by the sword; not a single man was left.

¹⁷Meanwhile, Sisera had fled on foot to the tent of Jael, the wife of Heber the Kenite, because there was peace between King Jabin of Hazor and the family of Heber the Kenite.

¹⁸Jael went out to greet Sisera and said to him, “Come in, my lord. Come in with me. Don’t be afraid.” So he went into her tent, and she covered him with a blanket.

¹⁹He said to her, “Please give me a little water to drink for I am thirsty.” She opened a container of milk, gave him a drink, and covered him again.

²⁰Then he said to her, “Stand at the entrance to the tent. If a man comes and asks you, ‘Is there a man here? ’ say, ‘No.’”

²¹While he was sleeping from exhaustion, Heber’s wife Jael took a tent peg, grabbed a hammer, and went silently to Sisera. She hammered the peg into his temple and drove it into the ground, and he died.

²²When Barak arrived in pursuit of Sisera, Jael went out to greet him and said to him, “Come and I will show you the man you are looking for.” So he went in with her, and there was Sisera lying dead with a tent peg through his temple!

²³That day God subdued King Jabin of Canaan before the Israelites.

²⁴The power of the Israelites continued to increase against King Jabin of Canaan until they destroyed him.

¹Woe to the majestic crown of Ephraim’s drunkards, and to the fading flower of its beautiful splendor, which is on the summit above the rich valley. Woe to those overcome with wine.

²Look, the Lord has a strong and mighty one  — like a devastating hail storm, like a storm with strong flooding water. He will bring it across the land with his hand.

³The majestic crown of Ephraim’s drunkards will be trampled underfoot.

⁴The fading flower of his beautiful splendor, which is on the summit above the rich valley, will be like a ripe fig before the summer harvest. Whoever sees it will swallow it while it is still in his hand.

⁵On that day the LORD of Armies will become a crown of beauty and a diadem of splendor to the remnant of his people,

⁶a spirit of justice to the one who sits in judgment, and strength to those who repel attacks at the city gate.

⁷Even these stagger because of wine and stumble under the influence of beer: priest and prophet stagger because of beer, they are confused by wine. They stumble because of beer, they are muddled in their visions, they stumble in their judgments.

⁸Indeed, all their tables are covered with vomit; there is no place without a stench.

⁹Who is he trying to teach? Who is he trying to instruct? Infants just weaned from milk? Babies removed from the breast?

¹⁰“Law after law, law after law, line after line, line after line, a little here, a little there.”

¹¹For he will speak to this people with stammering speech and in a foreign language.

¹²He had said to them: “This is the place of rest; let the weary rest; this is the place of repose.” But they would not listen.

¹³The word of the LORD will come to them: “Law after law, law after law, line after line, line after line, a little here, a little there,” so they go stumbling backward, to be broken, trapped, and captured.

¹⁴Therefore hear the word of the LORD, you scoffers who rule this people in Jerusalem.

¹⁵For you said, “We have made a covenant with Death, and we have an agreement with Sheol; when the overwhelming catastrophe passes through, it will not touch us, because we have made falsehood our refuge and have hidden behind treachery.”

¹⁶Therefore the Lord GOD said: “Look, I have laid a stone in Zion, a tested stone, a precious cornerstone, a sure foundation; the one who believes will be unshakable.

¹⁷And I will make justice the measuring line and righteousness the mason’s level.” Hail will sweep away the false refuge, and water will flood your hiding place.

¹⁸Your covenant with Death will be dissolved, and your agreement with Sheol will not last. When the overwhelming catastrophe passes through, you will be trampled.

¹⁹Every time it passes through, it will carry you away; it will pass through every morning — every day and every night. Only terror will cause you to understand the message.

²⁰Indeed, the bed is too short to stretch out on, and its cover too small to wrap up in.

²¹For the LORD will rise up as he did at Mount Perazim. He will rise in wrath, as at the Valley of Gibeon, to do his work, his unexpected work, and to perform his task, his unfamiliar task.

²²So now, do not scoff, or your shackles will become stronger. Indeed, I have heard from the Lord GOD of Armies a decree of destruction for the whole land.

²³Listen and hear my voice. Pay attention and hear what I say.

²⁴Does the plowman plow every day to plant seed? Does he continuously break up and cultivate the soil?

²⁵When he has leveled its surface, does he not then scatter black cumin and sow cumin? He plants wheat in rows and barley in plots, with spelt as their border.

²⁶His God teaches him order; he instructs him.

²⁷Certainly black cumin is not threshed with a threshing board, and a cart wheel is not rolled over the cumin. But black cumin is beaten out with a stick, and cumin with a rod.

²⁸Bread grain is crushed, but is not threshed endlessly. Though the wheel of the farmer’s cart rumbles, his horses do not crush it.

²⁹This also comes from the LORD of Armies. He gives wondrous advice; he gives great wisdom.

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.