Professor Horner’s Reading Plan

¹Now on that very occasion there were some present who reported to Him about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mixed with their sacrifices.

²And Jesus responded and said to them, “Do you think that these Galileans were worse sinners than all the other Galileans just because they have suffered this fate?

³No, I tell you, but unless yourepent, you will all likewise perish.

⁴Or do you think that those eighteen on whom the tower in Siloam fell and killed them were worseoffenders than all the other people who live in Jerusalem?

⁵No, I tell you, but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish.”

⁶And He began telling this parable: “A man had a fig tree which had been planted in his vineyard; and he came looking for fruit on it and did not find any.

⁷And he said to the vineyard-keeper, ‘Look! For three years I have come looking for fruit on this fig treewithout finding any. Cut it down! Why does it even use up the ground?’

⁸But he answered and said to him, ‘Sir, leave it alone for this year too, until I dig around it and put in fertilizer;

⁹and if it bears fruit next year, fine; but if not, cut it down.’ ”

¹⁰Now Jesus was teaching in one of the synagogues on the Sabbath.

¹¹And there was a woman who for eighteen years had had a sickness caused by a spirit; and she was bent over double, and could not straighten up at all.

¹²When Jesus saw her, He called her over and said to her, “Woman, you are freed from your sickness.”

¹³And He laid His hands on her; and immediately she stood up straight again, and began glorifying God.

¹⁴But the synagogue leader, indignant because Jesus had healed on the Sabbath, began saying to the crowd in response, “There are six days during which work should be done; so come during them and get healed, and not on the Sabbath day.”

¹⁵But the Lord answered him and said, “You hypocrites, does each of you on the Sabbath not untie his ox or donkey from the stall and lead it away to water it?

¹⁶And this woman, a daughter of Abraham as she is, whom Satan has bound foreighteen long years, should she not have been released from this restraint on the Sabbath day?”

¹⁷And as He said this, all His opponents were being humiliated; and the entire crowd was rejoicing over all the glorious things being done by Him.

¹⁸So He was saying, “What is the kingdom of God like, and to what shall I compare it?

¹⁹It is like a mustard seed, which a man took and threw into his own garden; and it grew and became a tree, and the birds of the sky nested in its branches.”

²⁰And again He said, “To what shall I compare the kingdom of God?

²¹It is likeleaven, which a woman took and hid in threesata of flour until it was all leavened.”

²²And He was passing through one city and village after another, teaching, and proceeding on His way to Jerusalem.

²³And someone said to Him, “Lord, are there just a few who are being saved?” And He said to them,

²⁴“Strive to enter through the narrow door; for many, I tell you, will seek to enter and will not be able.

²⁵Once the head of the house gets up and shuts the door, and you begin standing outside and knocking on the door, saying, ‘Lord, open up to us!’ and He then will answer and say to you, ‘I do not know where you are from.’

²⁶Then you will begin saying, ‘We ate and drank in Your presence, and You taught in our streets!’

²⁷And yet He willsay, ‘I do not know where you are from; LEAVE ME, ALL YOUEVILDOERS.’

²⁸In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth when you see Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and all the prophets in the kingdom of God, but yourselves being thrown out.

²⁹And they will come from east and west, and from north and south, and will recline at the table in the kingdom of God.

³⁰And behold, some are last who will be first, and some are first who will be last.”

³¹At that very time some Pharisees approached, saying to Him, “Go away and leave this place, because Herod wants to kill You.”

³²And He said to them, “Go and tell thatfox, ‘Behold, I am casting out demons and performing healings today and tomorrow, and on the third day Ireach My goal.’

³³Nevertheless I must go on My journey today and tomorrow and the next day; for it cannot be that a prophet would perish outside Jerusalem.

³⁴Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones those who have been sent to her! How often I wanted to gather your children together, just as a hen gathers heryoung under her wings, and you were unwilling!

³⁵Behold, your house is left to you desolate; and I say to you, you will not see Me until you say, ‘BLESSED IS THE ONE WHO COMES IN THE NAME OF THE LORD!’ ”

¹Then the sons of Israel, the whole congregation, came to the wilderness of Zin in the first month; and the people stayed at Kadesh. Now Miriam died there and was buried there.

²There was no water for the congregation, and they assembled against Moses and Aaron.

³Then the people argued with Moses and spoke, saying, “If only we had perished when our brothers perished before the LORD!

⁴Why then have you brought the LORD’S assembly into this wilderness, for us and our livestock to die here?

⁵Why did you make us come up from Egypt, to bring us into this wretched place? It is not a place of grain or figs or vines or pomegranates, nor is there water to drink!”

⁶Then Moses and Aaron came in from the presence of the assembly to the entrance of the tent of meeting and fell on their faces. And the glory of the LORD appeared to them;

⁷then the LORD spoke to Moses, saying,

⁸“Take the staff; and you and your brother Aaron assemble the congregation and speak to the rock before their eyes, that it shall yield its water. So you shall bring water for them out of the rock, and have the congregation and their livestock drink.”

⁹So Moses took the staff from before the LORD, just as He had commanded him;

¹⁰and Moses and Aaron summoned the assembly in front of the rock. And he said to them, “Listen now, you rebels; shall we bring water for you out of this rock?”

¹¹Then Moses raised his hand and struck the rock twice with his staff; and water came out abundantly, and the congregation and their livestock drank.

¹²But the LORD said to Moses and Aaron, “Since you did not trust in Me, to treat Me as holy in the sight of the sons of Israel, for that reason you shall not bring this assembly into the land which I have given them.”

¹³Those were called the waters of Meribah, because the sons of Israel argued with the LORD, and He proved Himself holy among them.

¹⁴From Kadesh Moses then sent messengers to the king of Edom to say, “This is what your brother Israel has said: ‘You know all the hardship that has overtaken us;

¹⁵that our fathers went down to Egypt, and we stayed in Egypt a long time, and the Egyptians treated us and our fathers badly.

¹⁶But when we cried out to the LORD, He heard our voice and sent an angel, and brought us out from Egypt; now behold, we are at Kadesh, a town on the edge of your territory.

¹⁷Please let us pass through your land. We will not pass through field or vineyard; we will not even drink water from a well. We will go along the king’s road, not turning to the right or left, until we pass through your territory.’ ”

¹⁸Edom, however, said to him, “You shall not pass through us, or I will come out with the sword against you.”

¹⁹Again, the sons of Israel said to him, “We will go up by the road, and if I and my livestock do drink any of your water, then I will pay its price. Let me only pass through on my feet, nothing more.”

²⁰But he said, “You shall not pass through.” And Edom came out against him with a heavy force and a strong hand.

²¹So Edom refused to allow Israel to pass through his territory; then Israel turned away from him.

²²Now when they set out from Kadesh, the sons of Israel, the whole congregation, came to Mount Hor.

²³Then the LORD spoke to Moses and Aaron at Mount Hor by the border of the land of Edom, saying,

²⁴“Aaron will be gathered to his people; for he shall not enter the land which I have given to the sons of Israel, because you rebelled against My command at the waters of Meribah.

²⁵Take Aaron and his son Eleazar, and bring them up to Mount Hor.

²⁶Then strip Aaron of his garments and put them on his son Eleazar. So Aaron will be gathered to his people and will die there.”

²⁷So Moses did just as the LORD had commanded, and they went up to Mount Hor in the sight of all the congregation.

²⁸And after Moses stripped Aaron of his garments and put them on his son Eleazar, Aaron died there on the mountain top. Then Moses and Eleazar came down from the mountain.

²⁹When all the congregation saw that Aaron had died, the whole house of Israel wept for Aaron for thirty days.

¹Therefore I urge you, brothers and sisters, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship.

²And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect.

³For through the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think more highly of himself than he ought to think; but to think so as to have sound judgment, as God has allotted to each a measure of faith.

⁴For just as we have many parts in one body and all the body’s parts do not have the same function,

⁵so we, who are many, are one body in Christ, and individually parts of one another.

⁶However, since we have gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, each of us is to use them properly: if prophecy, in proportion to one’s faith;

⁷if service, in the act of serving; or the one who teaches, in the act of teaching;

⁸or the one who exhorts, in the work of exhortation; the one who gives, with generosity; the one who is in leadership, with diligence; the one who shows mercy, with cheerfulness.

⁹Love must be free of hypocrisy. Detest what is evil; cling to what is good.

¹⁰Be devoted to one another in brotherly love; give preference to one another in honor,

¹¹not lagging behind in diligence, fervent in spirit, serving the Lord;

¹²rejoicing in hope, persevering in tribulation, devoted to prayer,

¹³contributing to the needs of the saints, practicing hospitality.

¹⁴Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse.

¹⁵Rejoice with those who rejoice, and weep with those who weep.

¹⁶Be of the same mind toward one another; do not be haughty in mind, but associate with the lowly. Do not be wise in your own estimation.

¹⁷Never repay evil for evil to anyone. Respect what is right in the sight of all people.

¹⁸If possible, so far as it depends on you, be at peace with all people.

¹⁹Never take your own revenge, beloved, but leave room for the wrath of God, for it is written: “VENGEANCE IS MINE, I WILL REPAY,” says the Lord.

²⁰“BUT IF YOUR ENEMY IS HUNGRY, FEED HIM; IF HE IS THIRSTY, GIVE HIM A DRINK; FOR IN SO DOING YOU WILL HEAP BURNING COALS ON HIS HEAD.”

²¹Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.

¹Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth passed away, and there is no longer any sea.

²And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.

³And I heard a loud voice from the throne, saying, “Behold, the tabernacle of God is among the people, and He will dwell among them, and they shall be His people, and God Himself will be among them,

⁴and He will wipe away every tear from their eyes; and there will no longer be any death; there will no longer be any mourning, or crying, or pain; the first things have passed away.”

⁵And He who sits on the throne said, “Behold, I am making all things new.” And He *said, “Write, for these words are faithful and true.”

⁶Then He said to me, “It is done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. I will give water to the one who thirsts from the spring of the water of life, without cost.

⁷The one who overcomes will inherit these things, and I will be his God and he will be My son.

⁸But for the cowardly, and unbelieving, and abominable, and murderers, and sexually immoral persons, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, their part will be in the lake that burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death.”

⁹Then one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls, full of the seven last plagues, came and spoke with me, saying, “Come here, I will show you the bride, the wife of the Lamb.”

¹⁰And he carried me away in the Spirit to a great and high mountain, and showed me the holy city, Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God,

¹¹having the glory of God. Her brilliance was like a very valuable stone, like a stone of crystal-clear jasper.

¹²It had a great and high wall, with twelve gates, and at the gates twelve angels; and names were written on the gates, which are the names of the twelve tribes of the sons of Israel.

¹³There were three gates on the east, three gates on the north, three gates on the south, and three gates on the west.

¹⁴And the wall of the city had twelve foundation stones, and on them were the twelve names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb.

¹⁵The one who spoke with me had a gold measuring rod to measure the city, its gates, and its wall.

¹⁶The city is laid out as a square, and its length is as great as the width; and he measured the city with the rod, twelve thousand stadia; its length, width, and height are equal.

¹⁷And he measured its wall, 144 cubits, by human measurements, which are also angelic measurements.

¹⁸The material of the wall was jasper; and the city was pure gold, like clear glass.

¹⁹The foundation stones of the city wall were decorated with every kind of precious stone. The first foundation stone was jasper; the second, sapphire; the third, chalcedony; the fourth, emerald;

²⁰the fifth, sardonyx; the sixth, sardius; the seventh, chrysolite; the eighth, beryl; the ninth, topaz; the tenth, chrysoprase; the eleventh, jacinth; the twelfth, amethyst.

²¹And the twelve gates were twelve pearls; each one of the gates was a single pearl. And the street of the city was pure gold, like transparent glass.

²²I saw no temple in it, for the Lord God the Almighty and the Lamb are its temple.

²³And the city has no need of the sun or of the moon to shine on it, for the glory of God has illuminated it, and its lamp is the Lamb.

²⁴The nations will walk by its light, and the kings of the earth will bring their glory into it.

²⁵In the daytime (for there will be no night there) its gates will never be closed;

²⁶and they will bring the glory and the honor of the nations into it;

²⁷and nothing unclean, and no one who practices abomination and lying, shall ever come into it, but only those whose names are written in the Lamb’s book of life.

¹“Man, who is born of woman, Is short-lived and full of turmoil.

²Like a flower he comes out and withers. He also flees like a shadow and does not remain.

³You also open Your eyes on him And bring him into judgment with Yourself.

⁴Who can make the clean out of the unclean? No one!

⁵Since his days are determined, The number of his months is with You; And You have set his limits so that he cannot pass.

⁶Look away from him so that he may rest, Until he fulfills his day like a hired worker.

⁷“For there is hope for a tree, When it is cut down, that it will sprout again, And its shoots will not fail.

⁸Though its roots grow old in the ground, And its stump dies in the dry soil,

⁹At the scent of water it will flourish And produce sprigs like a plant.

¹⁰But a man dies and lies prostrate. A person passes away, and where is he?

¹¹As water evaporates from the sea, And a river becomes parched and dried up,

¹²So a man lies down and does not rise. Until the heavens no longer exist, He will not awake nor be woken from his sleep.

¹³“Oh that You would hide me in Sheol, That You would conceal me until Your wrath returns to You, That You would set a limit for me and remember me!

¹⁴If a man dies, will he live again? All the days of my struggle I will wait Until my relief comes.

¹⁵You will call, and I will answer You; You will long for the work of Your hands.

¹⁶For now You number my steps, You do not observe my sin.

¹⁷My wrongdoing is sealed up in a bag, And You cover over my guilt.

¹⁸“But the falling mountain crumbles away, And the rock moves from its place;

¹⁹Water wears away stones, Its torrents wash away the dust of the earth; So You destroy a man’s hope.

²⁰You forever overpower him and he departs; You change his appearance and send him away.

²¹His sons achieve honor, but he does not know it; Or they become insignificant, and he does not perceive it.

²²However, his body pains him, And his soul mourns for himself.”

¹The earth is the LORD’S, and all it contains, The world, and those who live in it.

²For He has founded it upon the seas And established it upon the rivers.

³Who may ascend onto the hill of the LORD? And who may stand in His holy place?

⁴One who has clean hands and a pure heart, Who has not lifted up his soul to deceit And has not sworn deceitfully.

⁵He will receive a blessing from the LORD And righteousness from the God of his salvation.

⁶This is the generation of those who seek Him, Who seek Your face—even Jacob. Selah

⁷Lift up your heads, you gates, And be lifted up, you ancient doors, That the King of glory may come in!

⁸Who is the King of glory? The LORD strong and mighty, The LORD mighty in battle.

⁹Lift up your heads, you gates, And lift them up, you ancient doors, That the King of glory may come in!

¹⁰Who is this King of glory? The LORD of armies, He is the King of glory. Selah

¹The wise woman builds her house, But the foolish tears it down with her own hands.

²One who walks in his uprightness fears the LORD, But one who is devious in his ways despises Him.

³In the mouth of the foolish is a rod for his back, But the lips of the wise will protect them.

⁴Where there are no oxen, the manger is clean; But much revenue comes by the strength of the ox.

⁵A trustworthy witness will not lie, But a false witness declares lies.

⁶A scoffer seeks wisdom and finds none, But knowledge is easy for one who has understanding.

⁷Leave the presence of a fool, Or you will not discern words of knowledge.

⁸The wisdom of the sensible is to understand his way, But the foolishness of fools is deceit.

⁹Fools mock at sin, But among the upright there is goodwill.

¹⁰The heart knows its own bitterness, And a stranger does not share its joy.

¹¹The house of the wicked will be destroyed, But the tent of the upright will flourish.

¹²There is a way which seems right to a person, But its end is the way of death.

¹³Even in laughter the heart may be in pain, And the end of joy may be grief.

¹⁴One with a wayward heart will have his fill of his own ways, But a good person will be satisfied with his.

¹⁵The naive believes everything, But the sensible person considers his steps.

¹⁶A wise person is cautious and turns away from evil, But a fool is arrogant and careless.

¹⁷A quick-tempered person acts foolishly, And a person of evil devices is hated.

¹⁸The naive inherit foolishness, But the sensible are crowned with knowledge.

¹⁹The evil will bow down before the good, And the wicked at the gates of the righteous.

²⁰The poor is hated even by his neighbor, But those who love the rich are many.

²¹One who despises his neighbor sins, But one who is gracious to the poor is blessed.

²²Will they who devise evil not go astray? But kindness and truth will be to those who devise good.

²³In all labor there is profit, But mere talk leads only to poverty.

²⁴The crown of the wise is their riches, But the foolishness of fools is simply foolishness.

²⁵A truthful witness saves lives, But one who declares lies is deceitful.

²⁶In the fear of the LORD there is strong confidence, And his children will have refuge.

²⁷The fear of the LORD is a fountain of life, By which one may avoid the snares of death.

²⁸In a multitude of people is a king’s glory, But in the scarcity of people is a prince’s ruin.

²⁹One who is slow to anger has great understanding; But one who is quick-tempered exalts foolishness.

³⁰A tranquil heart is life to the body, But jealousy is rottenness to the bones.

³¹One who oppresses the poor taunts his Maker, But one who is gracious to the needy honors Him.

³²The wicked is thrust down by his own wrongdoing, But the righteous has a refuge when he dies.

³³Wisdom rests in the heart of one who has understanding, But among fools it is made known.

³⁴Righteousness exalts a nation, But sin is a disgrace to any people.

³⁵The king’s favor is toward a servant who acts wisely, But his anger is toward him who acts shamefully.

¹Then the Ziphites came to Saul at Gibeah, saying, “Is David not keeping himself hidden on the hill of Hachilah, which is opposite Jeshimon?”

²So Saul set out and went down to the wilderness of Ziph, taking with him three thousand chosen men of Israel, to search for David in the wilderness of Ziph.

³And Saul camped on the hill of Hachilah, which is opposite Jeshimon, beside the road, and David was staying in the wilderness. When he saw that Saul had come after him into the wilderness,

⁴David sent out spies, and he learned that Saul was definitely coming.

⁵David then set out and came to the place where Saul had camped. And David saw the place where Saul lay, and Abner the son of Ner, the commander of his army; and Saul was lying in the circle of the camp, and the people were camped around him.

⁶Then David said to Ahimelech the Hittite and to Abishai the son of Zeruiah, Joab’s brother, saying, “Who will go down with me to Saul in the camp?” And Abishai said, “I will go down with you.”

⁷So David and Abishai came to the people by night, and behold, Saul lay sleeping inside the circle of the camp with his spear stuck in the ground at his head; and Abner and the people were lying around him.

⁸Then Abishai said to David, “Today God has handed your enemy over to you; now then, please let me pin him with the spear to the ground with one thrust, and I will not do it to him a second time.”

⁹But David said to Abishai, “Do not kill him, for who can reach out with his hand against the LORD’S anointed and remain innocent?”

¹⁰David also said, “As the LORD lives, the LORD certainly will strike him, or his day will come that he dies, or he will go down in battle and perish.

¹¹The LORD forbid that I would reach out with my hand against the LORD’S anointed! But now please take the spear that is at his head and the jug of water, and let’s go.”

¹²So David took the spear and the jug of water that were at Saul’s head, and they left; and no one saw or knew about it, nor did anyone awaken, for they were all asleep, because a deep sleep from the LORD had fallen on them.

¹³Then David crossed over to the other side and stood on top of the mountain at a distance with a large area between them.

¹⁴And David called to the people and to Abner the son of Ner, saying, “Will you not answer, Abner?” Then Abner replied, “Who are you who calls to the king?”

¹⁵So David said to Abner, “Are you not a man? And who is like you in Israel? Why then have you not guarded your lord the king? For one of the people came to kill the king your lord!

¹⁶This thing that you have done is not good. As the LORD lives, all of you undoubtedly must die, because you did not guard your lord, the LORD’S anointed. And now, see where the king’s spear is and the jug of water that was at his head!”

¹⁷Then Saul recognized David’s voice and said, “Is this your voice, my son David?” And David said, “It is my voice, my lord the king.”

¹⁸He also said, “Why then is my lord pursuing his servant? For what have I done? Or what evil is in my hand?

¹⁹Now then, please let my lord the king listen to the words of his servant. If the LORD has incited you against me, may He accept an offering; but if it is people, cursed are they before the LORD, because they have driven me out today so that I would have no share in the inheritance of the LORD, saying, ‘Go, serve other gods.’

²⁰Now then, do not let my blood fall to the ground far from the presence of the LORD; for the king of Israel has come out to search for a single flea, just as one hunts a partridge in the mountains.”

²¹Then Saul said, “I have sinned. Return, my son David, for I will not harm you again since my life was precious in your sight this day. Behold, I have played the fool and have made a very great mistake.”

²²David replied, “Behold, the spear of the king! Now have one of the young men come over and take it.

²³And the LORD will repay each man for his righteousness and his faithfulness; for the LORD handed you over to me today, but I refused to reach out with my hand against the LORD’S anointed.

²⁴Therefore behold, just as your life was highly valued in my sight this day, so may my life be highly valued in the sight of the LORD, and may He rescue me from all distress.”

²⁵Then Saul said to David, “Blessed are you, my son David; you will both accomplish much and assuredly prevail.” So David went on his way, and Saul returned to his place.

¹“At that time,” declares the LORD, “they will bring out the bones of the kings of Judah, the bones of its leaders, the bones of the priests, the bones of the prophets, and the bones of the inhabitants of Jerusalem from their graves.

²They will spread them out to the sun, the moon, and to all the heavenly lights, which they have loved, which they have served, which they have followed, which they have sought, and which they have worshiped. They will not be gathered nor buried; they will be like dung on the face of the ground.

³And death will be chosen rather than life by all the remnant that remains of this evil family, that remains in all the places to which I have driven them,” declares the LORD of armies.

⁴“You shall say to them, ‘This is what the LORD says: “Do people fall and not get up? Does one turn away and not repent?

⁵Why has this people, Jerusalem, Turned away in continual apostasy? They hold on to deceit, They refuse to return.

⁶I have listened and heard, They have spoken what is not right; No one repented of his wickedness, Saying, ‘What have I done?’ Everyone turned to his own course, Like a horse charging into the battle.

⁷Even the stork in the sky Knows her seasons; And the turtledove, the swallow, and the crane Keep to the time of their migration; But My people do not know The judgment of the LORD.

⁸“How can you say, ‘We are wise, And the Law of the LORD is with us’? But behold, the lying pen of the scribes Has made it into a lie.

⁹The wise men are put to shame, They are dismayed and caught; Behold, they have rejected the word of the LORD, So what kind of wisdom do they have?

¹⁰Therefore I will give their wives to others, Their fields to new owners; Because from the least even to the greatest Everyone is greedy for gain; From the prophet even to the priest, Everyone practices deceit.

¹¹They have healed the brokenness of the daughter of My people superficially, Saying, ‘Peace, peace,’ But there is no peace.

¹²Were they ashamed because of the abomination they had done? They were not ashamed at all, And they did not know how to be ashamed; Therefore they will fall among those who fall; At the time of their punishment they will collapse,” Says the LORD.

¹³“I will certainly snatch them away,” declares the LORD. “There will be no grapes on the vine And no figs on the fig tree, And the leaf will wither; And what I have given them will pass away.” ’ ”

¹⁴Why are we sitting still? Assemble yourselves, and let’s go into the fortified cities And perish there, For the LORD our God has doomed us And given us poisoned water to drink, Because we have sinned against the LORD.

¹⁵We waited for peace, but no good came; For a time of healing, but behold, terror!

¹⁶From Dan there is heard the snorting of his horses; At the sound of the neighing of his stallions The whole land quakes; For they come and devour the land and its fullness, The city and its inhabitants.

¹⁷“For behold, I am sending serpents among you, Vipers for which there is no charm; And they will bite you,” declares the LORD.

¹⁸My sorrow is beyond healing, My heart is faint within me!

¹⁹Behold, listen! The cry of the daughter of my people from a distant land: “Is the LORD not in Zion? Is her King not within her?” “Why have they provoked Me with their carved images, with foreign idols?”

²⁰“Harvest is past, summer is over, And we are not saved.”

²¹I am broken over the brokenness of the daughter of my people. I mourn, dismay has taken hold of me.

²²Is there no balm in Gilead? Is there no physician there? Why then has not the health of the daughter of my people been restored?

¹Now Paul also came to Derbe and to Lystra. And a disciple was there, named Timothy, the son of a Jewish woman who was a believer, but his father was a Greek,

²and he was well spoken of by the brothers and sisters who were in Lystra and Iconium.

³Paul wanted this man to leave with him; and he took him and circumcised him because of the Jews who were in those parts, for they all knew that his father was a Greek.

⁴Now while they were passing through the cities, they were delivering the ordinances for them to follow which had been determined by the apostles and elders in Jerusalem.

⁵So the churches were being strengthened in the faith, and were increasing in number daily.

⁶They passed through the Phrygian and Galatian region, after being forbidden by the Holy Spirit to speak the word in Asia;

⁷and after they came to Mysia, they were trying to go into Bithynia, and the Spirit of Jesus did not allow them;

⁸and passing by Mysia, they went down to Troas.

⁹And a vision appeared to Paul in the night: a man of Macedonia was standing and pleading with him, and saying, “Come over to Macedonia and help us.”

¹⁰When he had seen the vision, we immediately sought to leave for Macedonia, concluding that God had called us to preach the gospel to them.

¹¹So after setting sail from Troas, we ran a straight course to Samothrace, and on the following day to Neapolis;

¹²and from there to Philippi, which is a leading city of the district of Macedonia, a Roman colony; and we were spending some days in this city.

¹³And on the Sabbath day we went outside the gate to a riverside, where we were thinking that there was a place of prayer; and we sat down and began speaking to the women who had assembled.

¹⁴A woman named Lydia was listening; she was a seller of purple fabrics from the city of Thyatira, and a worshiper of God. The Lord opened her heart to respond to the things spoken by Paul.

¹⁵Now when she and her household had been baptized, she urged us, saying, “If you have judged me to be faithful to the Lord, come into my house and stay.” And she prevailed upon us.

¹⁶It happened that as we were going to the place of prayer, a slave woman who had a spirit of divination met us, who was bringing great profit to her masters by fortune-telling.

¹⁷She followed Paul and us and cried out repeatedly, saying, “These men are bond-servants of the Most High God, who are proclaiming to you a way of salvation.”

¹⁸Now she continued doing this for many days. But Paul was greatly annoyed, and he turned and said to the spirit, “I command you in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her!” And it came out at that very moment.

¹⁹But when her masters saw that their hope of profit was suddenly gone, they seized Paul and Silas and dragged them into the marketplace before the authorities,

²⁰and when they had brought them to the chief magistrates, they said, “These men, Jews as they are, are causing our city trouble,

²¹and they are proclaiming customs that are not lawful for us to accept or to practice, since we are Romans.”

²²The crowd joined in an attack against them, and the chief magistrates tore their robes off them and proceeded to order them to be beaten with rods.

²³When they had struck them with many blows, they threw them into prison, commanding the jailer to guard them securely;

²⁴and he, having received such a command, threw them into the inner prison and fastened their feet in the stocks.

²⁵Now about midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns of praise to God, and the prisoners were listening to them;

²⁶and suddenly there was a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison were shaken; and immediately all the doors were opened, and everyone’s chains were unfastened.

²⁷When the jailer awoke and saw the prison doors opened, he drew his sword and was about to kill himself, thinking that the prisoners had escaped.

²⁸But Paul called out with a loud voice, saying, “Do not harm yourself, for we are all here!”

²⁹And the jailer asked for lights and rushed in, and trembling with fear, he fell down before Paul and Silas;

³⁰and after he brought them out, he said, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?”

³¹They said, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and your household.”

³²And they spoke the word of God to him together with all who were in his house.

³³And he took them that very hour of the night and washed their wounds, and immediately he was baptized, he and all his household.

³⁴And he brought them into his house and set food before them, and was overjoyed, since he had become a believer in God together with his whole household.

³⁵Now when day came, the chief magistrates sent their officers, saying, “Release those men.”

³⁶And the jailer reported these words to Paul, saying, “The chief magistrates have sent word that you be released. So come out now and go in peace.”

³⁷But Paul said to them, “After beating us in public without due process—men who are Romans—they threw us into prison; and now they are releasing us secretly? No indeed! On the contrary, let them come in person and lead us out.”

³⁸The officers reported these words to the chief magistrates. And they became fearful when they heard that they were Romans,

³⁹and they came and pleaded with them, and when they had led them out, they repeatedly asked them to leave the city.

⁴⁰They left the prison and entered the house of Lydia, and when they saw the brothers and sisters, they encouraged them and departed.