Professor Horner’s Reading Plan

¹They came to the other side of the sea, to the region of the Gerasenes.

²As soon as he got out of the boat, a man with an unclean spirit came out of the tombs and met him.

³He lived in the tombs, and no one was able to restrain him anymore — not even with a chain  —

⁴because he often had been bound with shackles and chains, but had torn the chains apart and smashed the shackles. No one was strong enough to subdue him.

⁵Night and day among the tombs and on the mountains, he was always crying out and cutting himself with stones.

⁶When he saw Jesus from a distance, he ran and knelt down before him.

⁷And he cried out with a loud voice, “What do you have to do with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I beg you before God, don’t torment me!”

⁸For he had told him, “Come out of the man, you unclean spirit!”

⁹“What is your name?” he asked him. “My name is Legion,” he answered him, “because we are many.”

¹⁰And he begged him earnestly not to send them out of the region.

¹¹A large herd of pigs was there, feeding on the hillside.

¹²The demons begged him, “Send us to the pigs, so that we may enter them.”

¹³So he gave them permission, and the unclean spirits came out and entered the pigs. The herd of about two thousand rushed down the steep bank into the sea and drowned there.

¹⁴The men who tended them ran off and reported it in the town and the countryside, and people went to see what had happened.

¹⁵They came to Jesus and saw the man who had been demon-possessed, sitting there, dressed and in his right mind; and they were afraid.

¹⁶Those who had seen it described to them what had happened to the demon-possessed man and told about the pigs.

¹⁷Then they began to beg him to leave their region.

¹⁸As he was getting into the boat, the man who had been demon-possessed begged him earnestly that he might remain with him.

¹⁹Jesus did not let him but told him, “Go home to your own people, and report to them how much the Lord has done for you and how he has had mercy on you.”

²⁰So he went out and began to proclaim in the Decapolis how much Jesus had done for him, and they were all amazed.

²¹When Jesus had crossed over again by boat to the other side, a large crowd gathered around him while he was by the sea.

²²One of the synagogue leaders, named Jairus, came, and when he saw Jesus, he fell at his feet

²³and begged him earnestly, “My little daughter is dying. Come and lay your hands on her so that she can get well and live.”

²⁴So Jesus went with him, and a large crowd was following and pressing against him.

²⁵Now a woman suffering from bleeding for twelve years

²⁶had endured much under many doctors. She had spent everything she had and was not helped at all. On the contrary, she became worse.

²⁷Having heard about Jesus, she came up behind him in the crowd and touched his clothing.

²⁸For she said, “If I just touch his clothes, I’ll be made well.”

²⁹Instantly her flow of blood ceased, and she sensed in her body that she was healed of her affliction.

³⁰At once Jesus realized in himself that power had gone out from him. He turned around in the crowd and said, “Who touched my clothes?”

³¹His disciples said to him, “You see the crowd pressing against you, and yet you say, ‘Who touched me?’”

³²But he was looking around to see who had done this.

³³The woman, with fear and trembling, knowing what had happened to her, came and fell down before him, and told him the whole truth.

³⁴“Daughter,” he said to her, “your faith has saved you. Go in peace and be healed from your affliction.”

³⁵While he was still speaking, people came from the synagogue leader’s house and said, “Your daughter is dead. Why bother the teacher anymore?”

³⁶When Jesus overheard what was said, he told the synagogue leader, “Don’t be afraid. Only believe.”

³⁷He did not let anyone accompany him except Peter, James, and John, James’s brother.

³⁸They came to the leader’s house, and he saw a commotion — people weeping and wailing loudly.

³⁹He went in and said to them, “Why are you making a commotion and weeping? The child is not dead but asleep.”

⁴⁰They laughed at him, but he put them all outside. He took the child’s father, mother, and those who were with him, and entered the place where the child was.

⁴¹Then he took the child by the hand and said to her, “Talitha koum” (which is translated, “Little girl, I say to you, get up” ).

⁴²Immediately the girl got up and began to walk. (She was twelve years old.) At this they were utterly astounded.

⁴³Then he gave them strict orders that no one should know about this and told them to give her something to eat.

¹The LORD spoke to Moses:

²“Speak to the Israelites and tell them: These are my appointed times, the times of the LORD that you will proclaim as sacred assemblies.

³“Work may be done for six days, but on the seventh day there is to be a Sabbath of complete rest, a sacred assembly. You are not to do any work; it is a Sabbath to the LORD wherever you live.

⁴“These are the LORD’s appointed times, the sacred assemblies you are to proclaim at their appointed times.

⁵The Passover to the LORD comes in the first month, at twilight on the fourteenth day of the month.

⁶The Festival of Unleavened Bread to the LORD is on the fifteenth day of the same month. For seven days you must eat unleavened bread.

⁷On the first day you are to hold a sacred assembly; you are not to do any daily work.

⁸You are to present a fire offering to the LORD for seven days. On the seventh day there will be a sacred assembly; do not do any daily work.”

⁹The LORD spoke to Moses:

¹⁰“Speak to the Israelites and tell them: When you enter the land I am giving you and reap its harvest, you are to bring the first sheaf of your harvest to the priest.

¹¹He will present the sheaf before the LORD so that you may be accepted; the priest is to present it on the day after the Sabbath.

¹²On the day you present the sheaf, you are to offer a year-old male lamb without blemish as a burnt offering to the LORD.

¹³Its grain offering is to be four quarts of fine flour mixed with oil as a fire offering to the LORD, a pleasing aroma, and its drink offering will be one quart of wine.

¹⁴You must not eat bread, roasted grain, or any new grain until this very day, and until you have brought the offering to your God. This is to be a permanent statute throughout your generations wherever you live.

¹⁵“You are to count seven complete weeks starting from the day after the Sabbath, the day you brought the sheaf of the presentation offering.

¹⁶You are to count fifty days until the day after the seventh Sabbath and then present an offering of new grain to the LORD.

¹⁷Bring two loaves of bread from your settlements as a presentation offering, each of them made from four quarts of fine flour, baked with yeast, as firstfruits to the LORD.

¹⁸You are to present with the bread seven unblemished male lambs a year old, one young bull, and two rams. They will be a burnt offering to the LORD, with their grain offerings and drink offerings, a fire offering of a pleasing aroma to the LORD.

¹⁹You are also to prepare one male goat as a sin offering, and two male lambs a year old as a fellowship sacrifice.

²⁰The priest will present the lambs with the bread of firstfruits as a presentation offering before the LORD; the bread and the two lambs will be holy to the LORD for the priest.

²¹On that same day you are to make a proclamation and hold a sacred assembly. You are not to do any daily work. This is to be a permanent statute wherever you live throughout your generations.

²²When you reap the harvest of your land, you are not to reap all the way to the edge of your field or gather the gleanings of your harvest. Leave them for the poor and the resident alien; I am the LORD your God.”

²³The LORD spoke to Moses:

²⁴“Tell the Israelites: In the seventh month, on the first day of the month, you are to have a day of complete rest, commemoration, and trumpet blasts  — a sacred assembly.

²⁵You must not do any daily work, but you must present a fire offering to the LORD.”

²⁶The LORD again spoke to Moses:

²⁷“The tenth day of this seventh month is the Day of Atonement. You are to hold a sacred assembly and practice self-denial; you are to present a fire offering to the LORD.

²⁸On this particular day you are not to do any work, for it is a Day of Atonement to make atonement for yourselves before the LORD your God.

²⁹If any person does not practice self-denial on this particular day, he is to be cut off from his people.

³⁰I will destroy among his people anyone who does any work on this same day.

³¹You are not to do any work. This is a permanent statute throughout your generations wherever you live.

³²It will be a Sabbath of complete rest for you, and you must practice self-denial. You are to observe your Sabbath from the evening of the ninth day of the month until the following evening.”

³³The LORD spoke to Moses:

³⁴“Tell the Israelites: The Festival of Shelters to the LORD begins on the fifteenth day of this seventh month and continues for seven days.

³⁵There is to be a sacred assembly on the first day; you are not to do any daily work.

³⁶You are to present a fire offering to the LORD for seven days. On the eighth day you are to hold a sacred assembly and present a fire offering to the LORD. It is a solemn gathering; you are not to do any daily work.

³⁷“These are the LORD’s appointed times that you are to proclaim as sacred assemblies for presenting fire offerings to the LORD, burnt offerings and grain offerings, sacrifices and drink offerings, each on its designated day.

³⁸These are in addition to the offerings for the LORD’s Sabbaths, your gifts, all your vow offerings, and all your freewill offerings that you give to the LORD.

³⁹“You are to celebrate the LORD’s festival on the fifteenth day of the seventh month for seven days after you have gathered the produce of the land. There will be complete rest on the first day and complete rest on the eighth day.

⁴⁰On the first day you are to take the product of majestic trees — palm fronds, boughs of leafy trees, and willows of the brook  — and rejoice before the LORD your God for seven days.

⁴¹You are to celebrate it as a festival to the LORD seven days each year. This is a permanent statute for you throughout your generations; celebrate it in the seventh month.

⁴²You are to live in shelters for seven days. All the native-born of Israel must live in shelters,

⁴³so that your generations may know that I made the Israelites live in shelters when I brought them out of the land of Egypt; I am the LORD your God.”

⁴⁴So Moses declared the LORD’s appointed times to the Israelites.

¹Long ago God spoke to the fathers by the prophets at different times and in different ways.

²In these last days, he has spoken to us by his Son. God has appointed him heir of all things and made the universe through him.

³The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact expression of his nature, sustaining all things by his powerful word. After making purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high.

⁴So he became superior to the angels, just as the name he inherited is more excellent than theirs.

⁵For to which of the angels did he ever say, You are my Son; today I have become your Father, or again, I will be his Father, and he will be my Son?

⁶Again, when he brings his firstborn into the world, he says, And let all God’s angels worship him.

⁷And about the angels he says: He makes his angels winds, and his servants a fiery flame,

⁸but to the Son: Your throne, O God, is forever and ever, and the scepter of your kingdom is a scepter of justice.

⁹You have loved righteousness and hated lawlessness; this is why God, your God, has anointed you with the oil of joy beyond your companions.

¹⁰And: In the beginning, Lord, you established the earth, and the heavens are the works of your hands;

¹¹they will perish, but you remain. They will all wear out like clothing;

¹²you will roll them up like a cloak, and they will be changed like clothing. But you are the same, and your years will never end.

¹³Now to which of the angels has he ever said: Sit at my right hand until I make your enemies your footstool?

¹⁴Are they not all ministering spirits sent out to serve those who are going to inherit salvation?

¹Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ has been born of God, and everyone who loves the Father also loves the one born of him.

²This is how we know that we love God’s children: when we love God and obey his commands.

³For this is what love for God is: to keep his commands. And his commands are not a burden,

⁴because everyone who has been born of God conquers the world. This is the victory that has conquered the world: our faith.

⁵Who is the one who conquers the world but the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God?

⁶Jesus Christ — he is the one who came by water and blood, not by water only, but by water and by blood. And the Spirit is the one who testifies, because the Spirit is the truth.

⁷For there are three that testify:

⁸the Spirit, the water, and the blood  — and these three are in agreement.

⁹If we accept human testimony, God’s testimony is greater, because it is God’s testimony that he has given about his Son.

¹⁰The one who believes in the Son of God has this testimony within himself. The one who does not believe God has made him a liar, because he has not believed in the testimony God has given about his Son.

¹¹And this is the testimony: God has given us eternal life, and this life is in his Son.

¹²The one who has the Son has life. The one who does not have the Son of God does not have life.

¹³I have written these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God so that you may know that you have eternal life.

¹⁴This is the confidence we have before him: If we ask anything according to his will, he hears us.

¹⁵And if we know that he hears whatever we ask, we know that we have what we have asked of him.

¹⁶If anyone sees a fellow believer committing a sin that doesn’t lead to death, he should ask, and God will give life to him — to those who commit sin that doesn’t lead to death. There is sin that leads to death. I am not saying he should pray about that.

¹⁷All unrighteousness is sin, and there is sin that doesn’t lead to death.

¹⁸We know that everyone who has been born of God does not sin, but the one who is born of God keeps him, and the evil one does not touch him.

¹⁹We know that we are of God, and the whole world is under the sway of the evil one.

²⁰And we know that the Son of God has come and has given us understanding so that we may know the true one. We are in the true one — that is, in his Son Jesus Christ. He is the true God and eternal life.

²¹Little children, guard yourselves from idols.

¹Dead flies make a perfumer’s oil ferment and stink; so a little folly outweighs wisdom and honor.

²A wise person’s heart goes to the right, but a fool’s heart to the left.

³Even when the fool walks along the road, his heart lacks sense, and he shows everyone he is a fool.

⁴If the ruler’s anger rises against you, don’t leave your post, for calmness puts great offenses to rest.

⁵There is an evil I have seen under the sun, an error proceeding from the presence of the ruler:

⁶The fool is appointed to great heights, but the rich remain in lowly positions.

⁷I have seen slaves on horses, but princes walking on the ground like slaves.

⁸The one who digs a pit may fall into it, and the one who breaks through a wall may be bitten by a snake.

⁹The one who quarries stones may be hurt by them; the one who splits logs may be endangered by them.

¹⁰If the ax is dull, and one does not sharpen its edge, then one must exert more strength; however, the advantage of wisdom is that it brings success.

¹¹If the snake bites before it is charmed, then there is no advantage for the charmer.

¹²The words from the mouth of a wise person are gracious, but the lips of a fool consume him.

¹³The beginning of the words from his mouth is folly, but the end of his speaking is evil madness;

¹⁴yet the fool multiplies words. No one knows what will happen, and who can tell anyone what will happen after him?

¹⁵The struggles of fools weary them, for they don’t know how to go to the city.

¹⁶Woe to you, land, when your king is a youth and your princes feast in the morning.

¹⁷Blessed are you, land, when your king is a son of nobles and your princes feast at the proper time — for strength and not for drunkenness.

¹⁸Because of laziness the roof caves in, and because of negligent hands the house leaks.

¹⁹A feast is prepared for laughter, and wine makes life happy, and money is the answer for everything.

²⁰Do not curse the king even in your thoughts, and do not curse a rich person even in your bedroom, for a bird of the sky may carry the message, and a winged creature may report the matter.

¹Hallelujah! Praise God in his sanctuary. Praise him in his mighty expanse.

²Praise him for his powerful acts; praise him for his abundant greatness.

³Praise him with trumpet blast; praise him with harp and lyre.

⁴Praise him with tambourine and dance; praise him with strings and flute.

⁵Praise him with resounding cymbals; praise him with clashing cymbals.

⁶Let everything that breathes praise the LORD. Hallelujah!

¹A king’s heart is like channeled water in the LORD’s hand: He directs it wherever he chooses.

²All a person’s ways seem right to him, but the LORD weighs hearts.

³Doing what is righteous and just is more acceptable to the LORD than sacrifice.

⁴The lamp that guides the wicked — haughty eyes and an arrogant heart  — is sin.

⁵The plans of the diligent certainly lead to profit, but anyone who is reckless certainly becomes poor.

⁶Making a fortune through a lying tongue is a vanishing mist, a pursuit of death.

⁷The violence of the wicked sweeps them away because they refuse to act justly.

⁸A guilty one’s conduct is crooked, but the behavior of the innocent is upright.

⁹Better to live on the corner of a roof than to share a house with a nagging wife.

¹⁰A wicked person desires evil; he has no consideration for his neighbor.

¹¹When a mocker is punished, the inexperienced become wiser; when one teaches a wise man, he acquires knowledge.

¹²The Righteous One considers the house of the wicked; he brings the wicked to ruin.

¹³The one who shuts his ears to the cry of the poor will himself also call out and not be answered.

¹⁴A secret gift soothes anger, and a covert bribe, fierce rage.

¹⁵Justice executed is a joy to the righteous but a terror to those who practice iniquity.

¹⁶The person who strays from the way of prudence will come to rest in the assembly of the departed spirits.

¹⁷The one who loves pleasure will become poor; whoever loves wine and oil will not get rich.

¹⁸The wicked are a ransom for the righteous, and the treacherous, for the upright.

¹⁹Better to live in a wilderness than with a nagging and hot-tempered wife.

²⁰Precious treasure and oil are in the dwelling of a wise person, but a fool consumes them.

²¹The one who pursues righteousness and faithful love will find life, righteousness, and honor.

²²A wise person went up against a city of warriors and brought down its secure fortress.

²³The one who guards his mouth and tongue keeps himself out of trouble.

²⁴The arrogant and proud person, named “Mocker,” acts with excessive arrogance.

²⁵A slacker’s craving will kill him because his hands refuse to work.

²⁶He is filled with craving all day long, but the righteous give and don’t hold back.

²⁷The sacrifice of a wicked person is detestable — how much more so when he brings it with ulterior motives!

²⁸A lying witness will perish, but the one who listens will speak successfully.

²⁹A wicked person puts on a bold face, but the upright one considers his way.

³⁰No wisdom, no understanding, and no counsel will prevail against the LORD.

³¹A horse is prepared for the day of battle, but victory comes from the LORD.

¹Hannah prayed: My heart rejoices in the LORD; my horn is lifted up by the LORD. My mouth boasts over my enemies, because I rejoice in your salvation.

²There is no one holy like the LORD. There is no one besides you! And there is no rock like our God.

³Do not boast so proudly, or let arrogant words come out of your mouth, for the LORD is a God of knowledge, and actions are weighed by him.

⁴The bows of the warriors are broken, but the feeble are clothed with strength.

⁵Those who are full hire themselves out for food, but those who are starving hunger no more. The woman who is childless gives birth to seven, but the woman with many sons pines away.

⁶The LORD brings death and gives life; he sends some down to Sheol, and he raises others up.

⁷The LORD brings poverty and gives wealth; he humbles and he exalts.

⁸He raises the poor from the dust and lifts the needy from the trash heap. He seats them with noblemen and gives them a throne of honor. For the foundations of the earth are the LORD’s; he has set the world on them.

⁹He guards the steps of his faithful ones, but the wicked perish in darkness, for a person does not prevail by his own strength.

¹⁰Those who oppose the LORD will be shattered; he will thunder in the heavens against them. The LORD will judge the ends of the earth. He will give power to his king; he will lift up the horn of his anointed.

¹¹Elkanah went home to Ramah, but the boy served the LORD in the presence of the priest Eli.

¹²Eli’s sons were wicked men; they did not respect the LORD

¹³or the priests’ share of the sacrifices from the people. When anyone offered a sacrifice, the priest’s servant would come with a three-pronged meat fork while the meat was boiling

¹⁴and plunge it into the container, kettle, cauldron, or cooking pot. The priest would claim for himself whatever the meat fork brought up. This is the way they treated all the Israelites who came there to Shiloh.

¹⁵Even before the fat was burned, the priest’s servant would come and say to the one who was sacrificing, “Give the priest some meat to roast, because he won’t accept boiled meat from you — only raw.”

¹⁶If that person said to him, “The fat must be burned first; then you can take whatever you want for yourself,” the servant would reply, “No, I insist that you hand it over right now. If you don’t, I’ll take it by force!”

¹⁷So the servants’ sin was very severe in the presence of the LORD, because the men treated the LORD’s offering with contempt.

¹⁸Samuel served in the LORD’s presence —this mere boy was dressed in the linen ephod.

¹⁹Each year his mother made him a little robe and took it to him when she went with her husband to offer the annual sacrifice.

²⁰Eli would bless Elkanah and his wife: “May the LORD give you children by this woman in place of the one she has given to the LORD.” Then they would go home.

²¹The LORD paid attention to Hannah’s need, and she conceived and gave birth to three sons and two daughters. Meanwhile, the boy Samuel grew up in the presence of the LORD.

²²Now Eli was very old. He heard about everything his sons were doing to all Israel and how they were sleeping with the women who served at the entrance to the tent of meeting.

²³He said to them, “Why are you doing these things? I have heard about your evil actions from all these people.

²⁴No, my sons, the news I hear the LORD’s people spreading is not good.

²⁵If one person sins against another, God can intercede for him, but if a person sins against the LORD, who can intercede for him?” But they would not listen to their father, since the LORD intended to kill them.

²⁶By contrast, the boy Samuel grew in stature and in favor with the LORD and with people.

²⁷A man of God came to Eli and said to him, “This is what the LORD says: ‘Didn’t I reveal myself to your forefather’s family when they were in Egypt and belonged to Pharaoh’s palace?

²⁸Out of all the tribes of Israel, I chose your house to be my priests, to offer sacrifices on my altar, to burn incense, and to wear an ephod in my presence. I also gave your forefather’s family all the Israelite fire offerings.

²⁹Why, then, do all of you despise my sacrifices and offerings that I require at the place of worship? You have honored your sons more than me, by making yourselves fat with the best part of all of the offerings of my people Israel.’

³⁰“Therefore, this is the declaration of the LORD, the God of Israel: ‘I did say that your family and your forefather’s family would walk before me forever. But now,’ this is the LORD’s declaration, ‘no longer! For those who honor me I will honor, but those who despise me will be disgraced.

³¹Look, the days are coming when I will cut off your strength and the strength of your forefather’s house, so that none in your family will reach old age.

³²You will see distress in the place of worship, in spite of all that is good in Israel, and no one in your family will ever again reach old age.

³³Any man from your family I do not cut off from my altar will bring grief and sadness to you. All your descendants will die violently.

³⁴This will be the sign that will come to you concerning your two sons Hophni and Phinehas: both of them will die on the same day.

³⁵“‘Then I will raise up a faithful priest for myself. He will do whatever is in my heart and mind. I will establish a lasting dynasty for him, and he will walk before my anointed one for all time.

³⁶Anyone who is left in your family will come and bow down to him for a piece of silver or a loaf of bread. He will say: Please appoint me to some priestly office so I can have a piece of bread to eat.’”

¹This is what the LORD says: Where is your mother’s divorce certificate that I used to send her away? Or to which of my creditors did I sell you? Look, you were sold for your iniquities, and your mother was sent away because of your transgressions.

²Why was no one there when I came? Why was there no one to answer when I called? Is my arm too weak to redeem? Or do I have no power to rescue? Look, I dry up the sea by my rebuke; I turn the rivers into a wilderness; their fish rot because of lack of water and die of thirst.

³I dress the heavens in black and make sackcloth their clothing.

⁴The Lord GOD has given me the tongue of those who are instructed to know how to sustain the weary with a word. He awakens me each morning; he awakens my ear to listen like those being instructed.

⁵The Lord GOD has opened my ear, and I was not rebellious; I did not turn back.

⁶I gave my back to those who beat me, and my cheeks to those who tore out my beard. I did not hide my face from scorn and spitting.

⁷The Lord GOD will help me; therefore I have not been humiliated; therefore I have set my face like flint, and I know I will not be put to shame.

⁸The one who vindicates me is near; who will contend with me? Let us confront each other. Who has a case against me? Let him come near me!

⁹In truth, the Lord GOD will help me; who will condemn me? Indeed, all of them will wear out like a garment; a moth will devour them.

¹⁰Who among you fears the LORD and listens to his servant? Who among you walks in darkness, and has no light? Let him trust in the name of the LORD; let him lean on his God.

¹¹Look, all you who kindle a fire, who encircle yourselves with torches; walk in the light of your fire and of the torches you have lit! This is what you’ll get from my hand: you will lie down in a place of torment.

¹After the uproar was over, Paul sent for the disciples, encouraged them, and after saying farewell, departed to go to Macedonia.

²And when he had passed through those areas and offered them many words of encouragement, he came to Greece

³and stayed three months. The Jews plotted against him when he was about to set sail for Syria, and so he decided to go back through Macedonia.

⁴He was accompanied by Sopater son of Pyrrhus from Berea, Aristarchus and Secundus from Thessalonica, Gaius from Derbe, Timothy, and Tychicus and Trophimus from the province of Asia.

⁵These men went on ahead and waited for us in Troas,

⁶but we sailed away from Philippi after the Festival of Unleavened Bread. In five days we reached them at Troas, where we spent seven days.

⁷On the first day of the week, we assembled to break bread. Paul spoke to them, and since he was about to depart the next day, he kept on talking until midnight.

⁸There were many lamps in the room upstairs where we were assembled,

⁹and a young man named Eutychus was sitting on a window sill and sank into a deep sleep as Paul kept on talking. When he was overcome by sleep, he fell down from the third story and was picked up dead.

¹⁰But Paul went down, bent over him, embraced him, and said, “Don’t be alarmed, because he’s alive.”

¹¹After going upstairs, breaking the bread, and eating, Paul talked a long time until dawn. Then he left.

¹²They brought the boy home alive and were greatly comforted.

¹³We went on ahead to the ship and sailed for Assos, where we were going to take Paul on board, because these were his instructions, since he himself was going by land.

¹⁴When he met us at Assos, we took him on board and went on to Mitylene.

¹⁵Sailing from there, the next day we arrived off Chios. The following day we crossed over to Samos, and the day after, we came to Miletus.

¹⁶For Paul had decided to sail past Ephesus to avoid spending time in the province of Asia, because he was hurrying to be in Jerusalem, if possible, for the day of Pentecost.

¹⁷Now from Miletus, he sent to Ephesus and summoned the elders of the church.

¹⁸When they came to him, he said to them: “You know, from the first day I set foot in Asia, how I was with you the whole time,

¹⁹serving the Lord with all humility, with tears, and during the trials that came to me through the plots of the Jews.

²⁰You know that I did not avoid proclaiming to you anything that was profitable or from teaching you publicly and from house to house.

²¹I testified to both Jews and Greeks about repentance toward God and faith in our Lord Jesus.

²²“And now I am on my way to Jerusalem, compelled by the Spirit, not knowing what I will encounter there,

²³except that in every town the Holy Spirit warns me that chains and afflictions are waiting for me.

²⁴But I consider my life of no value to myself; my purpose is to finish my course and the ministry I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify to the gospel of God’s grace.

²⁵“And now I know that none of you, among whom I went about preaching the kingdom, will ever see me again.

²⁶Therefore I declare to you this day that I am innocent of the blood of all of you,

²⁷because I did not avoid declaring to you the whole plan of God.

²⁸Be on guard for yourselves and for all the flock of which the Holy Spirit has appointed you as overseers, to shepherd the church of God, which he purchased with his own blood.

²⁹I know that after my departure savage wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock.

³⁰Men will rise up even from your own number and distort the truth to lure the disciples into following them.

³¹Therefore be on the alert, remembering that night and day for three years I never stopped warning each one of you with tears.

³²“And now I commit you to God and to the word of his grace, which is able to build you up and to give you an inheritance among all who are sanctified.

³³I have not coveted anyone’s silver or gold or clothing.

³⁴You yourselves know that I worked with my own hands to support myself and those who are with me.

³⁵In every way I’ve shown you that it is necessary to help the weak by laboring like this and to remember the words of the Lord Jesus, because he said, ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’”

³⁶After he said this, he knelt down and prayed with all of them.

³⁷There were many tears shed by everyone. They embraced Paul and kissed him,

³⁸grieving most of all over his statement that they would never see his face again. And they accompanied him to the ship.