Professor Horner’s Reading Plan

¹He left there and came to his hometown, and his disciples followed him.

²When the Sabbath came, he began to teach in the synagogue, and many who heard him were astonished. “Where did this man get these things?” they said. “What is this wisdom that has been given to him, and how are these miracles performed by his hands?

³Isn’t this the carpenter, the son of Mary, and the brother of James, Joses, Judas, and Simon? And aren’t his sisters here with us?” So they were offended by him.

⁴Jesus said to them, “A prophet is not without honor except in his hometown, among his relatives, and in his household.”

⁵He was not able to do a miracle there, except that he laid his hands on a few sick people and healed them.

⁶And he was amazed at their unbelief. He was going around the villages teaching.

⁷He summoned the Twelve and began to send them out in pairs and gave them authority over unclean spirits.

⁸He instructed them to take nothing for the road except a staff — no bread, no traveling bag, no money in their belts,

⁹but to wear sandals and not put on an extra shirt.

¹⁰He said to them, “Whenever you enter a house, stay there until you leave that place.

¹¹If any place does not welcome you or listen to you, when you leave there, shake the dust off your feet as a testimony against them.”

¹²So they went out and preached that people should repent.

¹³They drove out many demons, anointed many sick people with oil and healed them.

¹⁴King Herod heard about it, because Jesus’s name had become well known. Some said, “John the Baptist has been raised from the dead, and that’s why miraculous powers are at work in him.”

¹⁵But others said, “He’s Elijah.” Still others said, “He’s a prophet, like one of the prophets from long ago.”

¹⁶When Herod heard of it, he said, “John, the one I beheaded, has been raised!”

¹⁷For Herod himself had given orders to arrest John and to chain him in prison on account of Herodias, his brother Philip’s wife, because he had married her.

¹⁸John had been telling Herod, “It is not lawful for you to have your brother’s wife.”

¹⁹So Herodias held a grudge against him and wanted to kill him. But she could not,

²⁰because Herod feared John and protected him, knowing he was a righteous and holy man. When Herod heard him he would be very perplexed, and yet he liked to listen to him.

²¹An opportune time came on his birthday, when Herod gave a banquet for his nobles, military commanders, and the leading men of Galilee.

²²When Herodias’s own daughter came in and danced, she pleased Herod and his guests. The king said to the girl, “Ask me whatever you want, and I’ll give it to you.”

²³He promised her with an oath: “Whatever you ask me I will give you, up to half my kingdom.”

²⁴She went out and said to her mother, “What should I ask for?” “John the Baptist’s head,” she said.

²⁵At once she hurried to the king and said, “I want you to give me John the Baptist’s head on a platter immediately.”

²⁶Although the king was deeply distressed, because of his oaths and the guests he did not want to refuse her.

²⁷The king immediately sent for an executioner and commanded him to bring John’s head. So he went and beheaded him in prison,

²⁸brought his head on a platter, and gave it to the girl. Then the girl gave it to her mother.

²⁹When John’s disciples heard about it, they came and removed his corpse and placed it in a tomb.

³⁰The apostles gathered around Jesus and reported to him all that they had done and taught.

³¹He said to them, “Come away by yourselves to a remote place and rest for a while.” For many people were coming and going, and they did not even have time to eat.

³²So they went away in the boat by themselves to a remote place,

³³but many saw them leaving and recognized them, and they ran on foot from all the towns and arrived ahead of them.

³⁴When he went ashore, he saw a large crowd and had compassion on them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd. Then he began to teach them many things.

³⁵When it grew late, his disciples approached him and said, “This place is deserted, and it is already late.

³⁶Send them away so that they can go into the surrounding countryside and villages to buy themselves something to eat.”

³⁷“You give them something to eat,” he responded. They said to him, “Should we go and buy two hundred denarii worth of bread and give them something to eat?”

³⁸He asked them, “How many loaves do you have? Go and see.” When they found out they said, “Five, and two fish.”

³⁹Then he instructed them to have all the people sit down in groups on the green grass.

⁴⁰So they sat down in groups of hundreds and fifties.

⁴¹He took the five loaves and the two fish, and looking up to heaven, he blessed and broke the loaves. He kept giving them to his disciples to set before the people. He also divided the two fish among them all.

⁴²Everyone ate and was satisfied.

⁴³They picked up twelve baskets full of pieces of bread and fish.

⁴⁴Now those who had eaten the loaves were five thousand men.

⁴⁵Immediately he made his disciples get into the boat and go ahead of him to the other side, to Bethsaida, while he dismissed the crowd.

⁴⁶After he said good-bye to them, he went away to the mountain to pray.

⁴⁷Well into the night, the boat was in the middle of the sea, and he was alone on the land.

⁴⁸He saw them straining at the oars, because the wind was against them. Very early in the morning he came toward them walking on the sea and wanted to pass by them.

⁴⁹When they saw him walking on the sea, they thought it was a ghost and cried out,

⁵⁰because they all saw him and were terrified. Immediately he spoke with them and said, “Have courage! It is I. Don’t be afraid.”

⁵¹Then he got into the boat with them, and the wind ceased. They were completely astounded,

⁵²because they had not understood about the loaves. Instead, their hearts were hardened.

⁵³When they had crossed over, they came to shore at Gennesaret and anchored there.

⁵⁴As they got out of the boat, people immediately recognized him.

⁵⁵They hurried throughout that region and began to carry the sick on mats to wherever they heard he was.

⁵⁶Wherever he went, into villages, towns, or the country, they laid the sick in the marketplaces and begged him that they might touch just the end of his robe. And everyone who touched it was healed.

¹The LORD spoke to Moses:

²“Command the Israelites to bring you pure oil from crushed olives for the light, in order to keep the lamp burning regularly.

³Aaron is to tend it continually from evening until morning before the LORD outside the curtain of the testimony in the tent of meeting. This is a permanent statute throughout your generations.

⁴He must continually tend the lamps on the pure gold lampstand in the LORD’s presence.

⁵“Take fine flour and bake it into twelve loaves; each loaf is to be made with four quarts.

⁶Arrange them in two rows, six to a row, on the pure gold table before the LORD.

⁷Place pure frankincense near each row, so that it may serve as a memorial portion for the bread and a fire offering to the LORD.

⁸The bread is to be set out before the LORD every Sabbath day as a permanent covenant obligation on the part of the Israelites.

⁹It belongs to Aaron and his sons, who are to eat it in a holy place, for it is the holiest portion for him from the fire offerings to the LORD; this is a permanent rule.”

¹⁰Now the son of an Israelite mother and an Egyptian father was among the Israelites. A fight broke out in the camp between the Israelite woman’s son and an Israelite man.

¹¹Her son cursed and blasphemed the Name, and they brought him to Moses. (His mother’s name was Shelomith, a daughter of Dibri of the tribe of Dan. )

¹²They put him in custody until the LORD’s decision could be made clear to them.

¹³Then the LORD spoke to Moses:

¹⁴“Bring the one who has cursed to the outside of the camp and have all who heard him lay their hands on his head; then have the whole community stone him.

¹⁵And tell the Israelites: If anyone curses his God, he will bear the consequences of his sin.

¹⁶Whoever blasphemes the name of the LORD must be put to death; the whole community is to stone him. If he blasphemes the Name, he is to be put to death, whether the resident alien or the native.

¹⁷“If a man kills anyone, he must be put to death.

¹⁸Whoever kills an animal is to make restitution for it, life for life.

¹⁹If any man inflicts a permanent injury on his neighbor, whatever he has done is to be done to him:

²⁰fracture for fracture, eye for eye, tooth for tooth. Whatever injury he inflicted on the person, the same is to be inflicted on him.

²¹Whoever kills an animal is to make restitution for it, but whoever kills a person is to be put to death.

²²You are to have the same law for the resident alien and the native, because I am the LORD your God.”

²³After Moses spoke to the Israelites, they brought the one who had cursed to the outside of the camp and stoned him. So the Israelites did as the LORD had commanded Moses.

¹For this reason, we must pay attention all the more to what we have heard, so that we will not drift away.

²For if the message spoken through angels was legally binding and every transgression and disobedience received a just punishment,

³how will we escape if we neglect such a great salvation? This salvation had its beginning when it was spoken of by the Lord, and it was confirmed to us by those who heard him.

⁴At the same time, God also testified by signs and wonders, various miracles, and distributions of gifts from the Holy Spirit according to his will.

⁵For he has not subjected to angels the world to come that we are talking about.

⁶But someone somewhere has testified: What is man that you remember him, or the son of man that you care for him?

⁷You made him lower than the angels for a short time; you crowned him with glory and honor

⁸and subjected everything under his feet. For in subjecting everything to him, he left nothing that is not subject to him. As it is, we do not yet see everything subjected to him.

⁹But we do see Jesus —  made lower than the angels for a short time so that by God’s grace he might taste death for everyone —  crowned with glory and honor because he suffered death.

¹⁰For in bringing many sons and daughters to glory, it was entirely appropriate that God — for whom and through whom all things exist — should make the source of their salvation perfect through sufferings.

¹¹For the one who sanctifies and those who are sanctified all have one Father. That is why Jesus is not ashamed to call them brothers and sisters,

¹²saying: I will proclaim your name to my brothers and sisters; I will sing hymns to you in the congregation.

¹³Again, I will trust in him. And again, Here I am with the children God gave me.

¹⁴Now since the children have flesh and blood in common, Jesus also shared in these, so that through his death he might destroy the one holding the power of death — that is, the devil  —

¹⁵and free those who were held in slavery all their lives by the fear of death.

¹⁶For it is clear that he does not reach out to help angels, but to help Abraham’s offspring.

¹⁷Therefore, he had to be like his brothers and sisters in every way, so that he could become a merciful and faithful high priest in matters pertaining to God, to make atonement for the sins of the people.

¹⁸For since he himself has suffered when he was tempted, he is able to help those who are tempted.

¹The elder: To the elect lady and her children, whom I love in the truth — and not only I, but also all who know the truth  —

²because of the truth that remains in us and will be with us forever.

³Grace, mercy, and peace will be with us from God the Father and from Jesus Christ, the Son of the Father, in truth and love.

⁴I was very glad to find some of your children walking in truth, in keeping with a command we have received from the Father.

⁵So now I ask you, dear lady — not as if I were writing you a new command, but one we have had from the beginning — that we love one another.

⁶This is love: that we walk according to his commands. This is the command as you have heard it from the beginning: that you walk in love.

⁷Many deceivers have gone out into the world; they do not confess the coming of Jesus Christ in the flesh. This is the deceiver and the antichrist.

⁸Watch yourselves so you don’t lose what we have worked for, but that you may receive a full reward.

⁹Anyone who does not remain in Christ’s teaching but goes beyond it does not have God. The one who remains in that teaching, this one has both the Father and the Son.

¹⁰If anyone comes to you and does not bring this teaching, do not receive him into your home, and don’t greet him;

¹¹for the one who greets him shares in his evil works.

¹²Though I have many things to write to you, I don’t want to use paper and ink. Instead, I hope to come to you and talk face to face so that our joy may be complete.

¹³The children of your elect sister send you greetings.

¹Send your bread on the surface of the water, for after many days you may find it.

²Give a portion to seven or even to eight, for you don’t know what disaster may happen on earth.

³If the clouds are full, they will pour out rain on the earth; whether a tree falls to the south or the north, the place where the tree falls, there it will lie.

⁴One who watches the wind will not sow, and the one who looks at the clouds will not reap.

⁵Just as you don’t know the path of the wind, or how bones develop in the womb of a pregnant woman, so also you don’t know the work of God who makes everything.

⁶In the morning sow your seed, and at evening do not let your hand rest, because you don’t know which will succeed, whether one or the other, or if both of them will be equally good.

⁷Light is sweet, and it is pleasing for the eyes to see the sun.

⁸Indeed, if someone lives many years, let him rejoice in them all, and let him remember the days of darkness, since they will be many. All that comes is futile.

⁹Rejoice, young person, while you are young, and let your heart be glad in the days of your youth. And walk in the ways of your heart and in the desire of your eyes; but know that for all of these things God will bring you to judgment.

¹⁰Remove sorrow from your heart, and put away pain from your flesh, because youth and the prime of life are fleeting.

¹How happy is the one who does not walk in the advice of the wicked or stand in the pathway with sinners or sit in the company of mockers!

²Instead, his delight is in the LORD’s instruction, and he meditates on it day and night.

³He is like a tree planted beside flowing streams that bears its fruit in its season and whose leaf does not wither. Whatever he does prospers.

⁴The wicked are not like this; instead, they are like chaff that the wind blows away.

⁵Therefore the wicked will not stand up in the judgment, nor sinners in the assembly of the righteous.

⁶For the LORD watches over the way of the righteous, but the way of the wicked leads to ruin.

¹A good name is to be chosen over great wealth; favor is better than silver and gold.

²Rich and poor have this in common: the LORD makes them all.

³A sensible person sees danger and takes cover, but the inexperienced keep going and are punished.

⁴Humility, the fear of the LORD, results in wealth, honor, and life.

⁵There are thorns and snares on the way of the crooked; the one who guards himself stays far from them.

⁶Start a youth out on his way; even when he grows old he will not depart from it.

⁷The rich rule over the poor, and the borrower is a slave to the lender.

⁸The one who sows injustice will reap disaster, and the rod of his fury will be destroyed.

⁹A generous person will be blessed, for he shares his food with the poor.

¹⁰Drive out a mocker, and conflict goes too; then quarreling and dishonor will cease.

¹¹The one who loves a pure heart and gracious lips — the king is his friend.

¹²The LORD’s eyes keep watch over knowledge, but he overthrows the words of the treacherous.

¹³The slacker says, “There’s a lion outside! I’ll be killed in the public square!”

¹⁴The mouth of the forbidden woman is a deep pit; a man cursed by the LORD will fall into it.

¹⁵Foolishness is bound to the heart of a youth; a rod of discipline will separate it from him.

¹⁶Oppressing the poor to enrich oneself, and giving to the rich — both lead only to poverty.

¹⁷Listen closely, pay attention to the words of the wise, and apply your mind to my knowledge.

¹⁸For it is pleasing if you keep them within you and if they are constantly on your lips.

¹⁹I have instructed you today — even you — so that your confidence may be in the LORD.

²⁰Haven’t I written for you thirty sayings about counsel and knowledge,

²¹in order to teach you true and reliable words, so that you may give a dependable report to those who sent you?

²²Don’t rob a poor person because he is poor, and don’t crush the oppressed at the city gate,

²³for the LORD will champion their cause and will plunder those who plunder them.

²⁴Don’t make friends with an angry person, and don’t be a companion of a hot-tempered one,

²⁵or you will learn his ways and entangle yourself in a snare.

²⁶Don’t be one of those who enter agreements, who put up security for loans.

²⁷If you have nothing with which to pay, even your bed will be taken from under you.

²⁸Don’t move an ancient boundary marker that your fathers set up.

²⁹Do you see a person skilled in his work? He will stand in the presence of kings. He will not stand in the presence of the unknown.

¹The boy Samuel served the LORD in Eli’s presence. In those days the word of the LORD was rare and prophetic visions were not widespread.

²One day Eli, whose eyesight was failing, was lying in his usual place.

³Before the lamp of God had gone out, Samuel was lying down in the temple of the LORD, where the ark of God was located.

⁴Then the LORD called Samuel, and he answered, “Here I am.”

⁵He ran to Eli and said, “Here I am; you called me.” “I didn’t call,” Eli replied. “Go back and lie down.” So he went and lay down.

⁶Once again the LORD called, “Samuel!” Samuel got up, went to Eli, and said, “Here I am; you called me.” “I didn’t call, my son,” he replied. “Go back and lie down.”

⁷Now Samuel did not yet know the LORD, because the word of the LORD had not yet been revealed to him.

⁸Once again, for the third time, the LORD called Samuel. He got up, went to Eli, and said, “Here I am; you called me.” Then Eli understood that the LORD was calling the boy.

⁹He told Samuel, “Go and lie down. If he calls you, say, ‘Speak, LORD, for your servant is listening.’” So Samuel went and lay down in his place.

¹⁰The LORD came, stood there, and called as before, “Samuel, Samuel!” Samuel responded, “Speak, for your servant is listening.”

¹¹The LORD said to Samuel, “I am about to do something in Israel that everyone who hears about it will shudder.

¹²On that day I will carry out against Eli everything I said about his family, from beginning to end.

¹³I told him that I am going to judge his family forever because of the iniquity he knows about: his sons are cursing God, and he has not stopped them.

¹⁴Therefore, I have sworn to Eli’s family: The iniquity of Eli’s family will never be wiped out by either sacrifice or offering.”

¹⁵Samuel lay down until the morning; then he opened the doors of the LORD’s house. He was afraid to tell Eli the vision,

¹⁶but Eli called him and said, “Samuel, my son.” “Here I am,” answered Samuel.

¹⁷“What was the message he gave you?” Eli asked. “Don’t hide it from me. May God punish you and do so severely if you hide anything from me that he told you.”

¹⁸So Samuel told him everything and did not hide anything from him. Eli responded, “He is the LORD. Let him do what he thinks is good.”

¹⁹Samuel grew, and the LORD was with him, and he fulfilled everything Samuel prophesied.

²⁰All Israel from Dan to Beer-sheba knew that Samuel was a confirmed prophet of the LORD.

²¹The LORD continued to appear in Shiloh, because there he revealed himself to Samuel by his word.

¹Listen to me, you who pursue righteousness, you who seek the LORD: Look to the rock from which you were cut, and to the quarry from which you were dug.

²Look to Abraham your father, and to Sarah who gave birth to you. When I called him, he was only one; I blessed him and made him many.

³For the LORD will comfort Zion; he will comfort all her waste places, and he will make her wilderness like Eden, and her desert like the garden of the LORD. Joy and gladness will be found in her, thanksgiving and melodious song.

⁴Pay attention to me, my people, and listen to me, my nation; for instruction will come from me, and my justice for a light to the nations. I will bring it about quickly.

⁵My righteousness is near, my salvation appears, and my arms will bring justice to the nations. The coasts and islands will put their hope in me, and they will look to my strength.

⁶Look up to the heavens, and look at the earth beneath; for the heavens will vanish like smoke, the earth will wear out like a garment, and its inhabitants will die like gnats. But my salvation will last forever, and my righteousness will never be shattered.

⁷Listen to me, you who know righteousness, the people in whose heart is my instruction: do not fear disgrace by men, and do not be shattered by their taunts.

⁸For moths will devour them like a garment, and worms will eat them like wool. But my righteousness will last forever, and my salvation for all generations.

⁹Wake up, wake up! Arm of the LORD, clothe yourself with strength. Wake up as in days past, as in generations long ago. Wasn’t it you who hacked Rahab to pieces, who pierced the sea monster?

¹⁰Wasn’t it you who dried up the sea, the waters of the great deep, who made the sea-bed into a road for the redeemed to pass over?

¹¹And the redeemed of the LORD will return and come to Zion with singing, crowned with unending joy. Joy and gladness will overtake them, and sorrow and sighing will flee.

¹²I — I am the one who comforts you. Who are you that you should fear humans who die, or a son of man who is given up like grass?

¹³But you have forgotten the LORD, your Maker, who stretched out the heavens and laid the foundations of the earth. You are in constant dread all day long because of the fury of the oppressor, who has set himself to destroy. But where is the fury of the oppressor?

¹⁴The prisoner is soon to be set free; he will not die and go to the Pit, and his food will not be lacking.

¹⁵For I am the LORD your God who stirs up the sea so that its waves roar  — his name is the LORD of Armies.

¹⁶I have put my words in your mouth, and covered you in the shadow of my hand, in order to plant the heavens, to found the earth, and to say to Zion, “You are my people.”

¹⁷Wake yourself, wake yourself up! Stand up, Jerusalem, you who have drunk the cup of his fury from the LORD’s hand; you who have drunk the goblet to the dregs — the cup that causes people to stagger.

¹⁸There is no one to guide her among all the children she has raised; there is no one to take hold of her hand among all the offspring she has brought up.

¹⁹These two things have happened to you: devastation and destruction, famine and sword. Who will grieve for you? How can I comfort you?

²⁰Your children have fainted; they lie at the head of every street like an antelope in a net. They are full of the LORD’s fury, the rebuke of your God.

²¹So listen to this, suffering and drunken one — but not with wine.

²²This is what your Lord says — the LORD, even your God, who defends his people  — “Look, I have removed from your hand the cup that causes staggering; that goblet, the cup of my fury. You will never drink it again.

²³I will put it into the hands of your tormentors, who said to you: Lie down, so we can walk over you. You made your back like the ground, and like a street for those who walk on it.

¹After we tore ourselves away from them, we set sail straight for Cos, the next day to Rhodes, and from there to Patara.

²Finding a ship crossing over to Phoenicia, we boarded and set sail.

³After we sighted Cyprus, passing to the south of it, we sailed on to Syria and arrived at Tyre, since the ship was to unload its cargo there.

⁴We sought out the disciples and stayed there seven days. Through the Spirit they told Paul not to go to Jerusalem.

⁵When our time had come to an end, we left to continue our journey, while all of them, with their wives and children, accompanied us out of the city. After kneeling down on the beach to pray,

⁶we said farewell to one another and boarded the ship, and they returned home.

⁷When we completed our voyage from Tyre, we reached Ptolemais, where we greeted the brothers and sisters and stayed with them for a day.

⁸The next day we left and came to Caesarea, where we entered the house of Philip the evangelist, who was one of the Seven, and stayed with him.

⁹This man had four virgin daughters who prophesied.

¹⁰After we had been there for several days, a prophet named Agabus came down from Judea.

¹¹He came to us, took Paul’s belt, tied his own feet and hands, and said, “This is what the Holy Spirit says: ‘In this way the Jews in Jerusalem will bind the man who owns this belt and deliver him over to the Gentiles.’”

¹²When we heard this, both we and the local people pleaded with him not to go up to Jerusalem.

¹³Then Paul replied, “What are you doing, weeping and breaking my heart? For I am ready not only to be bound but also to die in Jerusalem for the name of the Lord Jesus.”

¹⁴Since he would not be persuaded, we said no more except, “The Lord’s will be done.”

¹⁵After this we got ready and went up to Jerusalem.

¹⁶Some of the disciples from Caesarea also went with us and brought us to Mnason of Cyprus, an early disciple, with whom we were to stay.

¹⁷When we reached Jerusalem, the brothers and sisters welcomed us warmly.

¹⁸The following day Paul went in with us to James, and all the elders were present.

¹⁹After greeting them, he reported in detail what God had done among the Gentiles through his ministry.

²⁰When they heard it, they glorified God and said, “You see, brother, how many thousands of Jews there are who have believed, and they are all zealous for the law.

²¹But they have been informed about you — that you are teaching all the Jews who are among the Gentiles to abandon Moses, telling them not to circumcise their children or to live according to our customs.

²²So what is to be done? They will certainly hear that you’ve come.

²³Therefore do what we tell you: We have four men who have made a vow.

²⁴Take these men, purify yourself along with them, and pay for them to get their heads shaved. Then everyone will know that what they were told about you amounts to nothing, but that you yourself are also careful about observing the law.

²⁵With regard to the Gentiles who have believed, we have written a letter containing our decision that they should keep themselves from food sacrificed to idols, from blood, from what is strangled, and from sexual immorality.”

²⁶So the next day, Paul took the men, having purified himself along with them, and entered the temple, announcing the completion of the purification days when the offering would be made for each of them.

²⁷When the seven days were nearly over, some Jews from the province of Asia saw him in the temple, stirred up the whole crowd, and seized him,

²⁸shouting, “Fellow Israelites, help! This is the man who teaches everyone everywhere against our people, our law, and this place. What’s more, he also brought Greeks into the temple and has defiled this holy place.”

²⁹For they had previously seen Trophimus the Ephesian in the city with him, and they supposed that Paul had brought him into the temple.

³⁰The whole city was stirred up, and the people rushed together. They seized Paul, dragged him out of the temple, and at once the gates were shut.

³¹As they were trying to kill him, word went up to the commander of the regiment that all Jerusalem was in chaos.

³²Taking along soldiers and centurions, he immediately ran down to them. Seeing the commander and the soldiers, they stopped beating Paul.

³³Then the commander approached, took him into custody, and ordered him to be bound with two chains. He asked who he was and what he had done.

³⁴Some in the crowd were shouting one thing and some another. Since he was not able to get reliable information because of the uproar, he ordered him to be taken into the barracks.

³⁵When Paul got to the steps, he had to be carried by the soldiers because of the violence of the crowd,

³⁶for the mass of people followed, yelling, “Get rid of him!”

³⁷As he was about to be brought into the barracks, Paul said to the commander, “Am I allowed to say something to you?” He replied, “You know how to speak Greek?

³⁸Aren’t you the Egyptian who started a revolt some time ago and led four thousand men of the Assassins into the wilderness?”

³⁹Paul said, “I am a Jewish man from Tarsus of Cilicia, a citizen of an important city. Now I ask you, let me speak to the people.”

⁴⁰After he had given permission, Paul stood on the steps and motioned with his hand to the people. When there was a great hush, he addressed them in Aramaic: