Professor Horner’s Reading Plan

¹Early on Sunday morning, as the new day was dawning, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went out to visit the tomb.

²Suddenly there was a great earthquake! For an angel of the Lord came down from heaven, rolled aside the stone, and sat on it.

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

⁴The guards shook with fear when they saw him, and they fell into a dead faint.

⁵Then the angel spoke to the women. “Don’t be afraid!” he said. “I know you are looking for Jesus, who was crucified.

⁶He isn’t here! He is risen from the dead, just as he said would happen. Come, see where his body was lying.

⁷And now, go quickly and tell his disciples that he has risen from the dead, and he is going ahead of you to Galilee. You will see him there. Remember what I have told you.”

⁸The women ran quickly from the tomb. They were very frightened but also filled with great joy, and they rushed to give the disciples the angel’s message.

⁹And as they went, Jesus met them and greeted them. And they ran to him, grasped his feet, and worshiped him.

¹⁰Then Jesus said to them, “Don’t be afraid! Go tell my brothers to leave for Galilee, and they will see me there.”

¹¹As the women were on their way, some of the guards went into the city and told the leading priests what had happened.

¹²A meeting with the elders was called, and they decided to give the soldiers a large bribe.

¹³They told the soldiers, “You must say, ‘Jesus’ disciples came during the night while we were sleeping, and they stole his body.’

¹⁴If the governor hears about it, we’ll stand up for you so you won’t get in trouble.”

¹⁵So the guards accepted the bribe and said what they were told to say. Their story spread widely among the Jews, and they still tell it today.

¹⁶Then the eleven disciples left for Galilee, going to the mountain where Jesus had told them to go.

¹⁷When they saw him, they worshiped him — but some of them doubted!

¹⁸Jesus came and told his disciples, “I have been given all authority in heaven and on earth.

¹⁹Therefore, go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit.

²⁰Teach these new disciples to obey all the commands I have given you. And be sure of this: I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”

¹So Isaac called for Jacob, blessed him, and said, “You must not marry any of these Canaanite women.

²Instead, go at once to Paddan-aram, to the house of your grandfather Bethuel, and marry one of your uncle Laban’s daughters.

³May God Almighty bless you and give you many children. And may your descendants multiply and become many nations!

⁴May God pass on to you and your descendants the blessings he promised to Abraham. May you own this land where you are now living as a foreigner, for God gave this land to Abraham.”

⁵So Isaac sent Jacob away, and he went to Paddan-aram to stay with his uncle Laban, his mother’s brother, the son of Bethuel the Aramean.

⁶Esau knew that his father, Isaac, had blessed Jacob and sent him to Paddan-aram to find a wife, and that he had warned Jacob, “You must not marry a Canaanite woman.”

⁷He also knew that Jacob had obeyed his parents and gone to Paddan-aram.

⁸It was now very clear to Esau that his father did not like the local Canaanite women.

⁹So Esau visited his uncle Ishmael’s family and married one of Ishmael’s daughters, in addition to the wives he already had. His new wife’s name was Mahalath. She was the sister of Nebaioth and the daughter of Ishmael, Abraham’s son.

¹⁰Meanwhile, Jacob left Beersheba and traveled toward Haran.

¹¹At sundown he arrived at a good place to set up camp and stopped there for the night. Jacob found a stone to rest his head against and lay down to sleep.

¹²As he slept, he dreamed of a stairway that reached from the earth up to heaven. And he saw the angels of God going up and down the stairway.

¹³At the top of the stairway stood the LORD, and he said, “I am the LORD, the God of your grandfather Abraham, and the God of your father, Isaac. The ground you are lying on belongs to you. I am giving it to you and your descendants.

¹⁴Your descendants will be as numerous as the dust of the earth! They will spread out in all directions — to the west and the east, to the north and the south. And all the families of the earth will be blessed through you and your descendants.

¹⁵What’s more, I am with you, and I will protect you wherever you go. One day I will bring you back to this land. I will not leave you until I have finished giving you everything I have promised you.”

¹⁶Then Jacob awoke from his sleep and said, “Surely the LORD is in this place, and I wasn’t even aware of it!”

¹⁷But he was also afraid and said, “What an awesome place this is! It is none other than the house of God, the very gateway to heaven!”

¹⁸The next morning Jacob got up very early. He took the stone he had rested his head against, and he set it upright as a memorial pillar. Then he poured olive oil over it.

¹⁹He named that place Bethel (which means “house of God”), although it was previously called Luz.

²⁰Then Jacob made this vow: “If God will indeed be with me and protect me on this journey, and if he will provide me with food and clothing,

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

²²And this memorial pillar I have set up will become a place for worshiping God, and I will present to God a tenth of everything he gives me.”

¹Now, dear brothers and sisters, regarding your question about the special abilities the Spirit gives us. I don’t want you to misunderstand this.

²You know that when you were still pagans, you were led astray and swept along in worshiping speechless idols.

³So I want you to know that no one speaking by the Spirit of God will curse Jesus, and no one can say Jesus is Lord, except by the Holy Spirit.

⁴There are different kinds of spiritual gifts, but the same Spirit is the source of them all.

⁵There are different kinds of service, but we serve the same Lord.

⁶God works in different ways, but it is the same God who does the work in all of us.

⁷A spiritual gift is given to each of us so we can help each other.

⁸To one person the Spirit gives the ability to give wise advice ; to another the same Spirit gives a message of special knowledge.

⁹The same Spirit gives great faith to another, and to someone else the one Spirit gives the gift of healing.

¹⁰He gives one person the power to perform miracles, and another the ability to prophesy. He gives someone else the ability to discern whether a message is from the Spirit of God or from another spirit. Still another person is given the ability to speak in unknown languages, while another is given the ability to interpret what is being said.

¹¹It is the one and only Spirit who distributes all these gifts. He alone decides which gift each person should have.

¹²The human body has many parts, but the many parts make up one whole body. So it is with the body of Christ.

¹³Some of us are Jews, some are Gentiles, some are slaves, and some are free. But we have all been baptized into one body by one Spirit, and we all share the same Spirit.

¹⁴Yes, the body has many different parts, not just one part.

¹⁵If the foot says, “I am not a part of the body because I am not a hand,” that does not make it any less a part of the body.

¹⁶And if the ear says, “I am not part of the body because I am not an eye,” would that make it any less a part of the body?

¹⁷If the whole body were an eye, how would you hear? Or if your whole body were an ear, how would you smell anything?

¹⁸But our bodies have many parts, and God has put each part just where he wants it.

¹⁹How strange a body would be if it had only one part!

²⁰Yes, there are many parts, but only one body.

²¹The eye can never say to the hand, “I don’t need you.” The head can’t say to the feet, “I don’t need you.”

²²In fact, some parts of the body that seem weakest and least important are actually the most necessary.

²³And the parts we regard as less honorable are those we clothe with the greatest care. So we carefully protect those parts that should not be seen,

²⁴while the more honorable parts do not require this special care. So God has put the body together such that extra honor and care are given to those parts that have less dignity.

²⁵This makes for harmony among the members, so that all the members care for each other.

²⁶If one part suffers, all the parts suffer with it, and if one part is honored, all the parts are glad.

²⁷All of you together are Christ’s body, and each of you is a part of it.

²⁸Here are some of the parts God has appointed for the church: first are apostles, second are prophets, third are teachers, then those who do miracles, those who have the gift of healing, those who can help others, those who have the gift of leadership, those who speak in unknown languages.

²⁹Are we all apostles? Are we all prophets? Are we all teachers? Do we all have the power to do miracles?

³⁰Do we all have the gift of healing? Do we all have the ability to speak in unknown languages? Do we all have the ability to interpret unknown languages? Of course not!

³¹So you should earnestly desire the most helpful gifts. But now let me show you a way of life that is best of all.

¹This letter is from Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ. I am writing to God’s chosen people who are living as foreigners in the provinces of Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia.

²God the Father knew you and chose you long ago, and his Spirit has made you holy. As a result, you have obeyed him and have been cleansed by the blood of Jesus Christ. May God give you more and more grace and peace.

³All praise to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. It is by his great mercy that we have been born again, because God raised Jesus Christ from the dead. Now we live with great expectation,

⁴and we have a priceless inheritance — an inheritance that is kept in heaven for you, pure and undefiled, beyond the reach of change and decay.

⁵And through your faith, God is protecting you by his power until you receive this salvation, which is ready to be revealed on the last day for all to see.

⁶So be truly glad. There is wonderful joy ahead, even though you must endure many trials for a little while.

⁷These trials will show that your faith is genuine. It is being tested as fire tests and purifies gold — though your faith is far more precious than mere gold. So when your faith remains strong through many trials, it will bring you much praise and glory and honor on the day when Jesus Christ is revealed to the whole world.

⁸You love him even though you have never seen him. Though you do not see him now, you trust him; and you rejoice with a glorious, inexpressible joy.

⁹The reward for trusting him will be the salvation of your souls.

¹⁰This salvation was something even the prophets wanted to know more about when they prophesied about this gracious salvation prepared for you.

¹¹They wondered what time or situation the Spirit of Christ within them was talking about when he told them in advance about Christ’s suffering and his great glory afterward.

¹²They were told that their messages were not for themselves, but for you. And now this Good News has been announced to you by those who preached in the power of the Holy Spirit sent from heaven. It is all so wonderful that even the angels are eagerly watching these things happen.

¹³So prepare your minds for action and exercise self-control. Put all your hope in the gracious salvation that will come to you when Jesus Christ is revealed to the world.

¹⁴So you must live as God’s obedient children. Don’t slip back into your old ways of living to satisfy your own desires. You didn’t know any better then.

¹⁵But now you must be holy in everything you do, just as God who chose you is holy.

¹⁶For the Scriptures say, “You must be holy because I am holy.”

¹⁷And remember that the heavenly Father to whom you pray has no favorites. He will judge or reward you according to what you do. So you must live in reverent fear of him during your time here as “temporary residents.”

¹⁸For you know that God paid a ransom to save you from the empty life you inherited from your ancestors. And it was not paid with mere gold or silver, which lose their value.

¹⁹It was the precious blood of Christ, the sinless, spotless Lamb of God.

²⁰God chose him as your ransom long before the world began, but now in these last days he has been revealed for your sake.

²¹Through Christ you have come to trust in God. And you have placed your faith and hope in God because he raised Christ from the dead and gave him great glory.

²²You were cleansed from your sins when you obeyed the truth, so now you must show sincere love to each other as brothers and sisters. Love each other deeply with all your heart.

²³For you have been born again, but not to a life that will quickly end. Your new life will last forever because it comes from the eternal, living word of God.

²⁴As the Scriptures say, “People are like grass; their beauty is like a flower in the field. The grass withers and the flower fades.

²⁵But the word of the Lord remains forever.” And that word is the Good News that was preached to you.

¹“People know where to mine silver and how to refine gold.

²They know where to dig iron from the earth and how to smelt copper from rock.

³They know how to shine light in the darkness and explore the farthest regions of the earth as they search in the dark for ore.

⁴They sink a mine shaft into the earth far from where anyone lives. They descend on ropes, swinging back and forth.

⁵Food is grown on the earth above, but down below, the earth is melted as by fire.

⁶Here the rocks contain precious lapis lazuli, and the dust contains gold.

⁷These are treasures no bird of prey can see, no falcon’s eye observe.

⁸No wild animal has walked upon these treasures; no lion has ever set his paw there.

⁹People know how to tear apart flinty rocks and overturn the roots of mountains.

¹⁰They cut tunnels in the rocks and uncover precious stones.

¹¹They dam up the trickling streams and bring to light the hidden treasures.

¹²“But do people know where to find wisdom? Where can they find understanding?

¹³No one knows where to find it, for it is not found among the living.

¹⁴‘It is not here,’ says the ocean. ‘Nor is it here,’ says the sea.

¹⁵It cannot be bought with gold. It cannot be purchased with silver.

¹⁶It’s worth more than all the gold of Ophir, greater than precious onyx or lapis lazuli.

¹⁷Wisdom is more valuable than gold and crystal. It cannot be purchased with jewels mounted in fine gold.

¹⁸Coral and jasper are worthless in trying to get it. The price of wisdom is far above rubies.

¹⁹Precious peridot from Ethiopia cannot be exchanged for it. It’s worth more than the purest gold.

²⁰“But do people know where to find wisdom? Where can they find understanding?

²¹It is hidden from the eyes of all humanity. Even the sharp-eyed birds in the sky cannot discover it.

²²Destruction and Death say, ‘We’ve heard only rumors of where wisdom can be found.’

²³“God alone understands the way to wisdom; he knows where it can be found,

²⁴for he looks throughout the whole earth and sees everything under the heavens.

²⁵He decided how hard the winds should blow and how much rain should fall.

²⁶He made the laws for the rain and laid out a path for the lightning.

²⁷Then he saw wisdom and evaluated it. He set it in place and examined it thoroughly.

²⁸And this is what he says to all humanity: ‘The fear of the Lord is true wisdom; to forsake evil is real understanding.’”

¹I pray to you, O LORD, my rock. Do not turn a deaf ear to me. For if you are silent, I might as well give up and die.

²Listen to my prayer for mercy as I cry out to you for help, as I lift my hands toward your holy sanctuary.

³Do not drag me away with the wicked — with those who do evil — those who speak friendly words to their neighbors while planning evil in their hearts.

⁴Give them the punishment they so richly deserve! Measure it out in proportion to their wickedness. Pay them back for all their evil deeds! Give them a taste of what they have done to others.

⁵They care nothing for what the LORD has done or for what his hands have made. So he will tear them down, and they will never be rebuilt!

⁶Praise the LORD! For he has heard my cry for mercy.

⁷The LORD is my strength and shield. I trust him with all my heart. He helps me, and my heart is filled with joy. I burst out in songs of thanksgiving.

⁸The LORD gives his people strength. He is a safe fortress for his anointed king.

⁹Save your people! Bless Israel, your special possession. Lead them like a shepherd, and carry them in your arms forever.

¹The wicked run away when no one is chasing them, but the godly are as bold as lions.

²When there is moral rot within a nation, its government topples easily. But wise and knowledgeable leaders bring stability.

³A poor person who oppresses the poor is like a pounding rain that destroys the crops.

⁴To reject the law is to praise the wicked; to obey the law is to fight them.

⁵Evil people don’t understand justice, but those who follow the LORD understand completely.

⁶Better to be poor and honest than to be dishonest and rich.

⁷Young people who obey the law are wise; those with wild friends bring shame to their parents.

⁸Income from charging high interest rates will end up in the pocket of someone who is kind to the poor.

⁹God detests the prayers of a person who ignores the law.

¹⁰Those who lead good people along an evil path will fall into their own trap, but the honest will inherit good things.

¹¹Rich people may think they are wise, but a poor person with discernment can see right through them.

¹²When the godly succeed, everyone is glad. When the wicked take charge, people go into hiding.

¹³People who conceal their sins will not prosper, but if they confess and turn from them, they will receive mercy.

¹⁴Blessed are those who fear to do wrong, but the stubborn are headed for serious trouble.

¹⁵A wicked ruler is as dangerous to the poor as a roaring lion or an attacking bear.

¹⁶A ruler with no understanding will oppress his people, but one who hates corruption will have a long life.

¹⁷A murderer’s tormented conscience will drive him into the grave. Don’t protect him!

¹⁸The blameless will be rescued from harm, but the crooked will be suddenly destroyed.

¹⁹A hard worker has plenty of food, but a person who chases fantasies ends up in poverty.

²⁰The trustworthy person will get a rich reward, but a person who wants quick riches will get into trouble.

²¹Showing partiality is never good, yet some will do wrong for a mere piece of bread.

²²Greedy people try to get rich quick but don’t realize they’re headed for poverty.

²³In the end, people appreciate honest criticism far more than flattery.

²⁴Anyone who steals from his father and mother and says, “What’s wrong with that?” is no better than a murderer.

²⁵Greed causes fighting; trusting the LORD leads to prosperity.

²⁶Those who trust their own insight are foolish, but anyone who walks in wisdom is safe.

²⁷Whoever gives to the poor will lack nothing, but those who close their eyes to poverty will be cursed.

²⁸When the wicked take charge, people go into hiding. When the wicked meet disaster, the godly flourish.

¹After Ehud’s death, the Israelites again did evil in the LORD’s sight.

²So the LORD turned them over to King Jabin of Hazor, a Canaanite king. The commander of his army was Sisera, who lived in Harosheth-haggoyim.

³Sisera, who had 900 iron chariots, ruthlessly oppressed the Israelites for twenty years. Then the people of Israel cried out to the LORD for help.

⁴Deborah, the wife of Lappidoth, was a prophet who was judging Israel at that time.

⁵She would sit under the Palm of Deborah, between Ramah and Bethel in the hill country of Ephraim, and the Israelites would go to her for judgment.

⁶One day she sent for Barak son of Abinoam, who lived in Kedesh in the land of Naphtali. She said to him, “This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, commands you: Call out 10,000 warriors from the tribes of Naphtali and Zebulun at Mount Tabor.

⁷And I will call out Sisera, commander of Jabin’s army, along with his chariots and warriors, to the Kishon River. There I will give you victory over him.”

⁸Barak told her, “I will go, but only if you go with me.”

⁹“Very well,” she replied, “I will go with you. But you will receive no honor in this venture, for the LORD’s victory over Sisera will be at the hands of a woman.” So Deborah went with Barak to Kedesh.

¹⁰At Kedesh, Barak called together the tribes of Zebulun and Naphtali, and 10,000 warriors went up with him. Deborah also went with him.

¹¹Now Heber the Kenite, a descendant of Moses’ brother-in-law Hobab, had moved away from the other members of his tribe and pitched his tent by the oak of Zaanannim near Kedesh.

¹²When Sisera was told that Barak son of Abinoam had gone up to Mount Tabor,

¹³he called for all 900 of his iron chariots and all of his warriors, and they marched from Harosheth-haggoyim to the Kishon River.

¹⁴Then Deborah said to Barak, “Get ready! This is the day the LORD will give you victory over Sisera, for the LORD is marching ahead of you.” So Barak led his 10,000 warriors down the slopes of Mount Tabor into battle.

¹⁵When Barak attacked, the LORD threw Sisera and all his chariots and warriors into a panic. Sisera leaped down from his chariot and escaped on foot.

¹⁶Then Barak chased the chariots and the enemy army all the way to Harosheth-haggoyim, killing all of Sisera’s warriors. Not a single one was left alive.

¹⁷Meanwhile, Sisera ran to the tent of Jael, the wife of Heber the Kenite, because Heber’s family was on friendly terms with King Jabin of Hazor.

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

¹⁹“Please give me some water,” he said. “I’m thirsty.” So she gave him some milk from a leather bag and covered him again.

²⁰“Stand at the door of the tent,” he told her. “If anybody comes and asks you if there is anyone here, say no.”

²¹But when Sisera fell asleep from exhaustion, Jael quietly crept up to him with a hammer and tent peg in her hand. Then she drove the tent peg through his temple and into the ground, and so he died.

²²When Barak came looking for Sisera, Jael went out to meet him. She said, “Come, and I will show you the man you are looking for.” So he followed her into the tent and found Sisera lying there dead, with the tent peg through his temple.

²³So on that day Israel saw God defeat Jabin, the Canaanite king.

²⁴And from that time on Israel became stronger and stronger against King Jabin until they finally destroyed him.

¹What sorrow awaits the proud city of Samaria — the glorious crown of the drunks of Israel. It sits at the head of a fertile valley, but its glorious beauty will fade like a flower. It is the pride of a people brought down by wine.

²For the Lord will send a mighty army against it. Like a mighty hailstorm and a torrential rain, they will burst upon it like a surging flood and smash it to the ground.

³The proud city of Samaria — the glorious crown of the drunks of Israel — will be trampled beneath its enemies’ feet.

⁴It sits at the head of a fertile valley, but its glorious beauty will fade like a flower. Whoever sees it will snatch it up, as an early fig is quickly picked and eaten.

⁵Then at last the LORD of Heaven’s Armies will himself be Israel’s glorious crown. He will be the pride and joy of the remnant of his people.

⁶He will give a longing for justice to their judges. He will give great courage to their warriors who stand at the gates.

⁷Now, however, Israel is led by drunks who reel with wine and stagger with alcohol. The priests and prophets stagger with alcohol and lose themselves in wine. They reel when they see visions and stagger as they render decisions.

⁸Their tables are covered with vomit; filth is everywhere.

⁹“Who does the LORD think we are?” they ask. “Why does he speak to us like this? Are we little children, just recently weaned?

¹⁰He tells us everything over and over — one line at a time, one line at a time, a little here, and a little there!”

¹¹So now God will have to speak to his people through foreign oppressors who speak a strange language!

¹²God has told his people, “Here is a place of rest; let the weary rest here. This is a place of quiet rest.” But they would not listen.

¹³So the LORD will spell out his message for them again, one line at a time, one line at a time, a little here, and a little there, so that they will stumble and fall. They will be injured, trapped, and captured.

¹⁴Therefore, listen to this message from the LORD, you scoffing rulers in Jerusalem.

¹⁵You boast, “We have struck a bargain to cheat death and have made a deal to dodge the grave. The coming destruction can never touch us, for we have built a strong refuge made of lies and deception.”

¹⁶Therefore, this is what the Sovereign LORD says: “Look! I am placing a foundation stone in Jerusalem, a firm and tested stone. It is a precious cornerstone that is safe to build on. Whoever believes need never be shaken.

¹⁷I will test you with the measuring line of justice and the plumb line of righteousness. Since your refuge is made of lies, a hailstorm will knock it down. Since it is made of deception, a flood will sweep it away.

¹⁸I will cancel the bargain you made to cheat death, and I will overturn your deal to dodge the grave. When the terrible enemy sweeps through, you will be trampled into the ground.

¹⁹Again and again that flood will come, morning after morning, day and night, until you are carried away.” This message will bring terror to your people.

²⁰The bed you have made is too short to lie on. The blankets are too narrow to cover you.

²¹The LORD will come as he did against the Philistines at Mount Perazim and against the Amorites at Gibeon. He will come to do a strange thing; he will come to do an unusual deed:

²²For the Lord, the LORD of Heaven’s Armies, has plainly said that he is determined to crush the whole land. So scoff no more, or your punishment will be even greater.

²³Listen to me; listen, and pay close attention.

²⁴Does a farmer always plow and never sow? Is he forever cultivating the soil and never planting?

²⁵Does he not finally plant his seeds — black cumin, cumin, wheat, barley, and emmer wheat — each in its proper way, and each in its proper place?

²⁶The farmer knows just what to do, for God has given him understanding.

²⁷A heavy sledge is never used to thresh black cumin; rather, it is beaten with a light stick. A threshing wheel is never rolled on cumin; instead, it is beaten lightly with a flail.

²⁸Grain for bread is easily crushed, so he doesn’t keep on pounding it. He threshes it under the wheels of a cart, but he doesn’t pulverize it.

²⁹The LORD of Heaven’s Armies is a wonderful teacher, and he gives the farmer great wisdom.

¹Once we were safe on shore, we learned that we were on the island of Malta.

²The people of the island were very kind to us. It was cold and rainy, so they built a fire on the shore to welcome us.

³As Paul gathered an armful of sticks and was laying them on the fire, a poisonous snake, driven out by the heat, bit him on the hand.

⁴The people of the island saw it hanging from his hand and said to each other, “A murderer, no doubt! Though he escaped the sea, justice will not permit him to live.”

⁵But Paul shook off the snake into the fire and was unharmed.

⁶The people waited for him to swell up or suddenly drop dead. But when they had waited a long time and saw that he wasn’t harmed, they changed their minds and decided he was a god.

⁷Near the shore where we landed was an estate belonging to Publius, the chief official of the island. He welcomed us and treated us kindly for three days.

⁸As it happened, Publius’s father was ill with fever and dysentery. Paul went in and prayed for him, and laying his hands on him, he healed him.

⁹Then all the other sick people on the island came and were healed.

¹⁰As a result we were showered with honors, and when the time came to sail, people supplied us with everything we would need for the trip.

¹¹It was three months after the shipwreck that we set sail on another ship that had wintered at the island — an Alexandrian ship with the twin gods as its figurehead.

¹²Our first stop was Syracuse, where we stayed three days.

¹³From there we sailed across to Rhegium. A day later a south wind began blowing, so the following day we sailed up the coast to Puteoli.

¹⁴There we found some believers, who invited us to spend a week with them. And so we came to Rome.

¹⁵The brothers and sisters in Rome had heard we were coming, and they came to meet us at the Forum on the Appian Way. Others joined us at The Three Taverns. When Paul saw them, he was encouraged and thanked God.

¹⁶When we arrived in Rome, Paul was permitted to have his own private lodging, though he was guarded by a soldier.

¹⁷Three days after Paul’s arrival, he called together the local Jewish leaders. He said to them, “Brothers, I was arrested in Jerusalem and handed over to the Roman government, even though I had done nothing against our people or the customs of our ancestors.

¹⁸The Romans tried me and wanted to release me, because they found no cause for the death sentence.

¹⁹But when the Jewish leaders protested the decision, I felt it necessary to appeal to Caesar, even though I had no desire to press charges against my own people.

²⁰I asked you to come here today so we could get acquainted and so I could explain to you that I am bound with this chain because I believe that the hope of Israel — the Messiah — has already come.”

²¹They replied, “We have had no letters from Judea or reports against you from anyone who has come here.

²²But we want to hear what you believe, for the only thing we know about this movement is that it is denounced everywhere.”

²³So a time was set, and on that day a large number of people came to Paul’s lodging. He explained and testified about the Kingdom of God and tried to persuade them about Jesus from the Scriptures. Using the law of Moses and the books of the prophets, he spoke to them from morning until evening.

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

²⁵And after they had argued back and forth among themselves, they left with this final word from Paul: “The Holy Spirit was right when he said to your ancestors through Isaiah the prophet,

²⁶‘Go and say to this people: When you hear what I say, you will not understand. When you see what I do, you will not comprehend.

²⁷For the hearts of these people are hardened, and their ears cannot hear, and they have closed their eyes — so their eyes cannot see, and their ears cannot hear, and their hearts cannot understand, and they cannot turn to me and let me heal them.’

²⁸So I want you to know that this salvation from God has also been offered to the Gentiles, and they will accept it.”

²⁹

³⁰For the next two years, Paul lived in Rome at his own expense. He welcomed all who visited him,

³¹boldly proclaiming the Kingdom of God and teaching about the Lord Jesus Christ. And no one tried to stop him.