Professor Horner’s Reading Plan

¹One Sabbath, when he went in to eat at the house of one of the leading Pharisees, they were watching him closely.

²There in front of him was a man whose body was swollen with fluid.

³In response, Jesus asked the law experts and the Pharisees, “Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath or not?”

⁴But they kept silent. He took the man, healed him, and sent him away.

⁵And to them, he said, “Which of you whose son or ox falls into a well, will not immediately pull him out on the Sabbath day?”

⁶They could find no answer to these things.

⁷He told a parable to those who were invited, when he noticed how they would choose the best places for themselves:

⁸“When you are invited by someone to a wedding banquet, don’t recline at the best place, because a more distinguished person than you may have been invited by your host.

⁹The one who invited both of you may come and say to you, ‘Give your place to this man,’ and then in humiliation, you will proceed to take the lowest place.

¹⁰“But when you are invited, go and recline in the lowest place, so that when the one who invited you comes, he will say to you, ‘Friend, move up higher.’ You will then be honored in the presence of all the other guests.

¹¹For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and the one who humbles himself will be exalted.”

¹²He also said to the one who had invited him, “When you give a lunch or a dinner, don’t invite your friends, your brothers or sisters, your relatives, or your rich neighbors, because they might invite you back, and you would be repaid.

¹³On the contrary, when you host a banquet, invite those who are poor, maimed, lame, or blind.

¹⁴And you will be blessed, because they cannot repay you; for you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous.”

¹⁵When one of those who reclined at the table with him heard these things, he said to him, “Blessed is the one who will eat bread in the kingdom of God!”

¹⁶Then he told him: “A man was giving a large banquet and invited many.

¹⁷At the time of the banquet, he sent his servant to tell those who were invited, ‘Come, because everything is now ready.’

¹⁸“But without exception they all began to make excuses. The first one said to him, ‘I have bought a field, and I must go out and see it. I ask you to excuse me.’

¹⁹“Another said, ‘I have bought five yoke of oxen, and I’m going to try them out. I ask you to excuse me.’

²⁰“And another said, ‘I just got married, and therefore I’m unable to come.’

²¹“So the servant came back and reported these things to his master. Then in anger, the master of the house told his servant, ‘Go out quickly into the streets and alleys of the city, and bring in here the poor, maimed, blind, and lame.’

²²“‘Master,’ the servant said, ‘what you ordered has been done, and there’s still room.’

²³“Then the master told the servant, ‘Go out into the highways and hedges and make them come in, so that my house may be filled.

²⁴For I tell you, not one of those people who were invited will enjoy my banquet.’”

²⁵Now great crowds were traveling with him. So he turned and said to them:

²⁶“If anyone comes to me and does not hate his own father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters — yes, and even his own life — he cannot be my disciple.

²⁷Whoever does not bear his own cross and come after me cannot be my disciple.

²⁸“For which of you, wanting to build a tower, doesn’t first sit down and calculate the cost to see if he has enough to complete it?

²⁹Otherwise, after he has laid the foundation and cannot finish it, all the onlookers will begin to ridicule him,

³⁰saying, ‘This man started to build and wasn’t able to finish.’

³¹“Or what king, going to war against another king, will not first sit down and decide if he is able with ten thousand to oppose the one who comes against him with twenty thousand?

³²If not, while the other is still far off, he sends a delegation and asks for terms of peace.

³³In the same way, therefore, every one of you who does not renounce all his possessions cannot be my disciple.

³⁴“Now, salt is good, but if salt should lose its taste, how will it be made salty?

³⁵It isn’t fit for the soil or for the manure pile; they throw it out. Let anyone who has ears to hear listen.”

¹When the Canaanite king of Arad, who lived in the Negev, heard that Israel was coming on the Atharim road, he fought against Israel and captured some prisoners.

²Then Israel made a vow to the LORD, “If you will hand this people over to us, we will completely destroy their cities.”

³The LORD listened to Israel’s request and handed the Canaanites over to them, and Israel completely destroyed them and their cities. So they named the place Hormah.

⁴Then they set out from Mount Hor by way of the Red Sea to bypass the land of Edom, but the people became impatient because of the journey.

⁵The people spoke against God and Moses: “Why have you led us up from Egypt to die in the wilderness? There is no bread or water, and we detest this wretched food!”

⁶Then the LORD sent poisonous snakes among the people, and they bit them so that many Israelites died.

⁷The people then came to Moses and said, “We have sinned by speaking against the LORD and against you. Intercede with the LORD so that he will take the snakes away from us.” And Moses interceded for the people.

⁸Then the LORD said to Moses, “Make a snake image and mount it on a pole. When anyone who is bitten looks at it, he will recover.”

⁹So Moses made a bronze snake and mounted it on a pole. Whenever someone was bitten, and he looked at the bronze snake, he recovered.

¹⁰The Israelites set out and camped at Oboth.

¹¹They set out from Oboth and camped at Iye-abarim in the wilderness that borders Moab on the east.

¹²From there they went and camped at Zered Valley.

¹³They set out from there and camped on the other side of the Arnon River, in the wilderness that extends from the Amorite border, because the Arnon was the Moabite border between Moab and the Amorites.

¹⁴Therefore it is stated in the Book of the LORD’s Wars: Waheb in Suphah and the ravines of the Arnon,

¹⁵even the slopes of the ravines that extend to the site of Ar and lie along the border of Moab.

¹⁶From there they went to Beer, the well the LORD told Moses about, “Gather the people so I may give them water.”

¹⁷Then Israel sang this song: Spring up, well — sing to it!

¹⁸The princes dug the well; the nobles of the people hollowed it out with a scepter and with their staffs. They went from the wilderness to Mattanah,

¹⁹from Mattanah to Nahaliel, from Nahaliel to Bamoth,

²⁰from Bamoth to the valley in the territory of Moab near the Pisgah highlands that overlook the wasteland.

²¹Israel sent messengers to say to King Sihon of the Amorites:

²²“Let us travel through your land. We won’t go into the fields or vineyards. We won’t drink any well water. We will travel the King’s Highway until we have traveled through your territory.”

²³But Sihon would not let Israel travel through his territory. Instead, he gathered his whole army and went out to confront Israel in the wilderness. When he came to Jahaz, he fought against Israel.

²⁴Israel struck him with the sword and took possession of his land from the Arnon to the Jabbok, but only up to the Ammonite border, because it was fortified.

²⁵Israel took all the cities and lived in all these Amorite cities, including Heshbon and all its surrounding villages.

²⁶Heshbon was the city of King Sihon of the Amorites, who had fought against the former king of Moab and had taken control of all his land as far as the Arnon.

²⁷Therefore the poets say: Come to Heshbon, let it be rebuilt; let the city of Sihon be restored.

²⁸For fire came out of Heshbon, a flame from the city of Sihon. It consumed Ar of Moab, the citizens of Arnon’s heights.

²⁹Woe to you, Moab! You have been destroyed, people of Chemosh! He gave up his sons as refugees, and his daughters into captivity to Sihon the Amorite king.

³⁰We threw them down; Heshbon has been destroyed as far as Dibon. We caused desolation as far as Nophah, which reaches as far as Medeba.

³¹So Israel lived in the Amorites’ land.

³²After Moses sent spies to Jazer, Israel captured its surrounding villages and drove out the Amorites who were there.

³³Then they turned and went up the road to Bashan, and King Og of Bashan came out against them with his whole army to do battle at Edrei.

³⁴But the LORD said to Moses, “Do not fear him, for I have handed him over to you along with his whole army and his land. Do to him as you did to King Sihon of the Amorites, who lived in Heshbon.”

³⁵So they struck him, his sons, and his whole army until no one was left, and they took possession of his land.

¹Let everyone submit to the governing authorities, since there is no authority except from God, and the authorities that exist are instituted by God.

²So then, the one who resists the authority is opposing God’s command, and those who oppose it will bring judgment on themselves.

³For rulers are not a terror to good conduct, but to bad. Do you want to be unafraid of the authority? Do what is good, and you will have its approval.

⁴For it is God’s servant for your good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, because it does not carry the sword for no reason. For it is God’s servant, an avenger that brings wrath on the one who does wrong.

⁵Therefore, you must submit, not only because of wrath but also because of your conscience.

⁶And for this reason you pay taxes, since the authorities are God’s servants, continually attending to these tasks.

⁷Pay your obligations to everyone: taxes to those you owe taxes, tolls to those you owe tolls, respect to those you owe respect, and honor to those you owe honor.

⁸Do not owe anyone anything, except to love one another, for the one who loves another has fulfilled the law.

⁹The commandments, Do not commit adultery; do not murder; do not steal; do not covet; and any other commandment, are summed up by this commandment: Love your neighbor as yourself.

¹⁰Love does no wrong to a neighbor. Love, therefore, is the fulfillment of the law.

¹¹Besides this, since you know the time, it is already the hour for you to wake up from sleep, because now our salvation is nearer than when we first believed.

¹²The night is nearly over, and the day is near; so let us discard the deeds of darkness and put on the armor of light.

¹³Let us walk with decency, as in the daytime: not in carousing and drunkenness; not in sexual impurity and promiscuity; not in quarreling and jealousy.

¹⁴But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and don’t make plans to gratify the desires of the flesh.

¹Then he showed me the river of the water of life, clear as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb

²down the middle of the city’s main street. The tree of life was on each side of the river, bearing twelve kinds of fruit, producing its fruit every month. The leaves of the tree are for healing the nations,

³and there will no longer be any curse. The throne of God and of the Lamb will be in the city, and his servants will worship him.

⁴They will see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads.

⁵Night will be no more; people will not need the light of a lamp or the light of the sun, because the Lord God will give them light, and they will reign forever and ever.

⁶Then he said to me, “These words are faithful and true. The Lord, the God of the spirits of the prophets, has sent his angel to show his servants what must soon take place.”

⁷“Look, I am coming soon! Blessed is the one who keeps the words of the prophecy of this book.”

⁸I, John, am the one who heard and saw these things. When I heard and saw them, I fell down to worship at the feet of the angel who had shown them to me.

⁹But he said to me, “Don’t do that! I am a fellow servant with you, your brothers the prophets, and those who keep the words of this book. Worship God!”

¹⁰Then he said to me, “Don’t seal up the words of the prophecy of this book, because the time is near.

¹¹Let the unrighteous go on in unrighteousness, let the filthy still be filthy; let the righteous go on in righteousness; let the holy still be holy.”

¹²“Look, I am coming soon, and my reward is with me to repay each person according to his work.

¹³I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end.

¹⁴“Blessed are those who wash their robes, so that they may have the right to the tree of life and may enter the city by the gates.

¹⁵Outside are the dogs, the sorcerers, the sexually immoral, the murderers, the idolaters, and everyone who loves and practices falsehood.

¹⁶“I, Jesus, have sent my angel to attest these things to you for the churches. I am the root and descendant of David, the bright morning star.”

¹⁷Both the Spirit and the bride say, “Come!” Let anyone who hears, say, “Come!” Let the one who is thirsty come. Let the one who desires take the water of life freely.

¹⁸I testify to everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book: If anyone adds to them, God will add to him the plagues that are written in this book.

¹⁹And if anyone takes away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God will take away his share of the tree of life and the holy city, which are written about in this book.

²⁰He who testifies about these things says, “Yes, I am coming soon.” Amen! Come, Lord Jesus!

²¹The grace of the Lord Jesus be with everyone. Amen.

¹Then Eliphaz the Temanite replied:

²Does a wise man answer with empty counsel or fill himself with the hot east wind?

³Should he argue with useless talk or with words that serve no good purpose?

⁴But you even undermine the fear of God and hinder meditation before him.

⁵Your iniquity teaches you what to say, and you choose the language of the crafty.

⁶Your own mouth condemns you, not I; your own lips testify against you.

⁷Were you the first human ever born, or were you brought forth before the hills?

⁸Do you listen in on the council of God, or have a monopoly on wisdom?

⁹What do you know that we don’t? What do you understand that is not clear to us?

¹⁰Both the gray-haired and the elderly are with us— older than your father.

¹¹Are God’s consolations not enough for you, even the words that deal gently with you?

¹²Why has your heart misled you, and why do your eyes flash

¹³as you turn your anger against God and allow such words to leave your mouth?

¹⁴What is a mere human, that he should be pure, or one born of a woman, that he should be righteous?

¹⁵If God puts no trust in his holy ones and the heavens are not pure in his sight,

¹⁶how much less one who is revolting and corrupt, who drinks injustice like water?

¹⁷Listen to me and I will inform you. I will describe what I have seen,

¹⁸what the wise have declared and not concealed, that came from their ancestors,

¹⁹to whom alone the land was given when no foreigner passed among them.

²⁰A wicked person writhes in pain all his days, throughout the number of years reserved for the ruthless.

²¹Dreadful sounds fill his ears; when he is at peace, a robber attacks him.

²²He doesn’t believe he will return from darkness; he is destined for the sword.

²³He wanders about for food, asking, “Where is it?” He knows the day of darkness is at hand.

²⁴Trouble and distress terrify him, overwhelming him like a king prepared for battle.

²⁵For he has stretched out his hand against God and has arrogantly opposed the Almighty.

²⁶He rushes headlong at him with his thick, studded shields.

²⁷Though his face is covered with fat and his waistline bulges with it,

²⁸he will dwell in ruined cities, in abandoned houses destined to become piles of rubble.

²⁹He will no longer be rich; his wealth will not endure. His possessions will not increase in the land.

³⁰He will not escape from the darkness; flames will wither his shoots, and by the breath of God’s mouth, he will depart.

³¹Let him not put trust in worthless things, being led astray, for what he gets in exchange will prove worthless.

³²It will be accomplished before his time, and his branch will not flourish.

³³He will be like a vine that drops its unripe grapes and like an olive tree that sheds its blossoms.

³⁴For the company of the godless will have no children, and fire will consume the tents of those who offer bribes.

³⁵They conceive trouble and give birth to evil; their womb prepares deception.

¹Of David. [1] LORD, I appeal to you.

²My God, I trust in you. Do not let me be disgraced; do not let my enemies gloat over me.

³No one who waits for you will be disgraced; those who act treacherously without cause will be disgraced.

⁴Make your ways known to me, LORD; teach me your paths.

⁵Guide me in your truth and teach me, for you are the God of my salvation; I wait for you all day long.

⁶Remember, LORD, your compassion and your faithful love, for they have existed from antiquity.

⁷Do not remember the sins of my youth or my acts of rebellion; in keeping with your faithful love, remember me because of your goodness, LORD.

⁸The LORD is good and upright; therefore he shows sinners the way.

⁹He leads the humble in what is right and teaches them his way.

¹⁰All the LORD’s ways show faithful love and truth to those who keep his covenant and decrees.

¹¹LORD, for the sake of your name, forgive my iniquity, for it is immense.

¹²Who is this person who fears the LORD? He will show him the way he should choose.

¹³He will live a good life, and his descendants will inherit the land.

¹⁴The secret counsel of the LORD is for those who fear him, and he reveals his covenant to them.

¹⁵My eyes are always on the LORD, for he will pull my feet out of the net.

¹⁶Turn to me and be gracious to me, for I am alone and afflicted.

¹⁷The distresses of my heart increase; bring me out of my sufferings.

¹⁸Consider my affliction and trouble, and forgive all my sins.

¹⁹Consider my enemies; they are numerous, and they hate me violently.

²⁰Guard me and rescue me; do not let me be put to shame, for I take refuge in you.

²¹May integrity and what is right watch over me, for I wait for you.

²²God, redeem Israel, from all its distresses.

¹A gentle answer turns away anger, but a harsh word stirs up wrath.

²The tongue of the wise makes knowledge attractive, but the mouth of fools blurts out foolishness.

³The eyes of the LORD are everywhere, observing the wicked and the good.

⁴The tongue that heals is a tree of life, but a devious tongue breaks the spirit.

⁵A fool despises his father’s discipline, but a person who accepts correction is sensible.

⁶The house of the righteous has great wealth, but trouble accompanies the income of the wicked.

⁷The lips of the wise broadcast knowledge, but not so the heart of fools.

⁸The sacrifice of the wicked is detestable to the LORD, but the prayer of the upright is his delight.

⁹The LORD detests the way of the wicked, but he loves the one who pursues righteousness.

¹⁰Discipline is harsh for the one who leaves the path; the one who hates correction will die.

¹¹Sheol and Abaddon lie open before the LORD  —  how much more, human hearts.

¹²A mocker doesn’t love one who corrects him; he will not consult the wise.

¹³A joyful heart makes a face cheerful, but a sad heart produces a broken spirit.

¹⁴A discerning mind seeks knowledge, but the mouth of fools feeds on foolishness.

¹⁵All the days of the oppressed are miserable, but a cheerful heart has a continual feast.

¹⁶Better a little with the fear of the LORD than great treasure with turmoil.

¹⁷Better a meal of vegetables where there is love than a fattened ox with hatred.

¹⁸A hot-tempered person stirs up conflict, but one slow to anger calms strife.

¹⁹A slacker’s way is like a thorny hedge, but the path of the upright is a highway.

²⁰A wise son brings joy to his father, but a foolish man despises his mother.

²¹Foolishness brings joy to one without sense, but a person with understanding walks a straight path.

²²Plans fail when there is no counsel, but with many advisers they succeed.

²³A person takes joy in giving an answer; and a timely word — how good that is!

²⁴For the prudent the path of life leads upward, so that he may avoid going down to Sheol.

²⁵The LORD tears apart the house of the proud, but he protects the widow’s territory.

²⁶The LORD detests the plans of the one who is evil, but pleasant words are pure.

²⁷The one who profits dishonestly troubles his household, but the one who hates bribes will live.

²⁸The mind of the righteous person thinks before answering, but the mouth of the wicked blurts out evil things.

²⁹The LORD is far from the wicked, but he hears the prayer of the righteous.

³⁰Bright eyes cheer the heart; good news strengthens the bones.

³¹One who listens to life-giving rebukes will be at home among the wise.

³²Anyone who ignores discipline despises himself, but whoever listens to correction acquires good sense.

³³The fear of the LORD is what wisdom teaches, and humility comes before honor.

¹David said to himself, “One of these days I’ll be swept away by Saul. There is nothing better for me than to escape immediately to the land of the Philistines. Then Saul will give up searching for me everywhere in Israel, and I’ll escape from him.”

²So David set out with his six hundred men and went over to Achish son of Maoch, the king of Gath.

³David and his men stayed with Achish in Gath. Each man had his family with him, and David had his two wives: Ahinoam of Jezreel and Abigail of Carmel, Nabal’s widow.

⁴When it was reported to Saul that David had fled to Gath, he no longer searched for him.

⁵Now David said to Achish, “If I have found favor with you, let me be given a place in one of the outlying towns, so I can live there. Why should your servant live in the royal city with you?”

⁶That day Achish gave Ziklag to him, and it still belongs to the kings of Judah today.

⁷The length of time that David stayed in Philistine territory amounted to a year and four months.

⁸David and his men went up and raided the Geshurites, the Girzites, and the Amalekites. From ancient times they had been the inhabitants of the region through Shur as far as the land of Egypt.

⁹Whenever David attacked the land, he did not leave a single person alive, either man or woman, but he took flocks, herds, donkeys, camels, and clothing. Then he came back to Achish,

¹⁰who inquired, “Where did you raid today?” David replied, “The south country of Judah,” “The south country of the Jerahmeelites,” or “The south country of the Kenites.”

¹¹David did not let a man or woman live to be brought to Gath, for he said, “Or they will inform on us and say, ‘This is what David did.’” This was David’s custom during the whole time he stayed in the Philistine territory.

¹²So Achish trusted David, thinking, “Since he has made himself repulsive to his people Israel, he will be my servant forever.”

¹If my head were a flowing spring, my eyes a fountain of tears, I would weep day and night over the slain of my dear people.

²If only I had a traveler’s lodging place in the wilderness, I would abandon my people and depart from them, for they are all adulterers, a solemn assembly of treacherous people.

³They bent their tongues like their bows; lies and not faithfulness prevail in the land, for they proceed from one evil to another, and they do not take me into account. This is the LORD’s declaration.

⁴Everyone has to be on guard against his friend. Don’t trust any brother, for every brother will certainly deceive, and every friend spread slander.

⁵Each one betrays his friend; no one tells the truth. They have taught their tongues to speak lies; they wear themselves out doing wrong.

⁶You live in a world of deception. In their deception they refuse to know me. This is the LORD’s declaration.

⁷Therefore, this is what the LORD of Armies says: I am about to refine them and test them, for what else can I do because of my dear people?

⁸Their tongues are deadly arrows — they speak deception. With his mouth one speaks peaceably with his friend, but inwardly he sets up an ambush.

⁹Should I not punish them for these things? This is the LORD’s declaration. Should I not avenge myself on such a nation as this?

¹⁰I will raise weeping and a lament over the mountains, a dirge over the wilderness grazing land, for they have been so scorched that no one passes through. The sound of cattle is no longer heard. From the birds of the sky to the animals, everything has fled — they have gone away.

¹¹I will make Jerusalem a heap of rubble, a jackals’ den. I will make the cities of Judah a desolation, an uninhabited place.

¹²Who is the person wise enough to understand this? Who has the LORD spoken to, that he may explain it? Why is the land destroyed and scorched like a wilderness, so no one can pass through?

¹³The LORD said, “It is because they abandoned my instruction, which I set before them, and did not obey my voice or walk according to it.

¹⁴Instead, they followed the stubbornness of their hearts and followed the Baals as their fathers taught them.”

¹⁵Therefore, this is what the LORD of Armies, the God of Israel, says: “I am about to feed this people wormwood and give them poisonous water to drink.

¹⁶I will scatter them among the nations that they and their fathers have not known. I will send a sword after them until I have finished them off.”

¹⁷This is what the LORD of Armies says: Consider, and summon the women who mourn; send for the skillful women.

¹⁸Let them come quickly to raise a lament over us so that our eyes may overflow with tears, our eyelids be soaked with weeping.

¹⁹For a sound of lamentation is heard from Zion: How devastated we are. We are greatly ashamed, for we have abandoned the land; our dwellings have been torn down.

²⁰Now hear the word of the LORD, you women. Pay attention to the words from his mouth. Teach your daughters a lament and one another a dirge,

²¹for Death has climbed through our windows; it has entered our fortresses, cutting off children from the streets, young men from the squares.

²²“Speak as follows: ‘This is what the LORD declares: Human corpses will fall like manure on the surface of the field, like newly cut grain after the reaper with no one to gather it.

²³“‘This is what the LORD says: The wise person should not boast in his wisdom; the strong should not boast in his strength; the wealthy should not boast in his wealth.

²⁴But the one who boasts should boast in this: that he understands and knows me  — that I am the LORD, showing faithful love, justice, and righteousness on the earth, for I delight in these things. This is the LORD’s declaration.

²⁵“‘Look, the days are coming — this is the LORD’s declaration — when I will punish all the circumcised yet uncircumcised:

²⁶Egypt, Judah, Edom, the Ammonites, Moab, and all the inhabitants of the desert who clip the hair on their temples. All these nations are uncircumcised, and the whole house of Israel is uncircumcised in heart.’”

¹After they passed through Amphipolis and Apollonia, they came to Thessalonica, where there was a Jewish synagogue.

²As usual, Paul went into the synagogue, and on three Sabbath days reasoned with them from the Scriptures,

³explaining and proving that it was necessary for the Messiah to suffer and rise from the dead: “This Jesus I am proclaiming to you is the Messiah.”

⁴Some of them were persuaded and joined Paul and Silas, including a large number of God-fearing Greeks, as well as a number of the leading women.

⁵But the Jews became jealous, and they brought together some wicked men from the marketplace, formed a mob, and started a riot in the city. Attacking Jason’s house, they searched for them to bring them out to the public assembly.

⁶When they did not find them, they dragged Jason and some of the brothers before the city officials, shouting, “These men who have turned the world upside down have come here too,

⁷and Jason has welcomed them. They are all acting contrary to Caesar’s decrees, saying that there is another king — Jesus.”

⁸The crowd and city officials who heard these things were upset.

⁹After taking a security bond from Jason and the others, they released them.

¹⁰As soon as it was night, the brothers and sisters sent Paul and Silas away to Berea. Upon arrival, they went into the synagogue of the Jews.

¹¹The people here were of more noble character than those in Thessalonica, since they received the word with eagerness and examined the Scriptures daily to see if these things were so.

¹²Consequently, many of them believed, including a number of the prominent Greek women as well as men.

¹³But when the Jews from Thessalonica found out that the word of God had been proclaimed by Paul at Berea, they came there too, agitating and upsetting the crowds.

¹⁴Then the brothers and sisters immediately sent Paul away to go to the coast, but Silas and Timothy stayed on there.

¹⁵Those who escorted Paul brought him as far as Athens, and after receiving instructions for Silas and Timothy to come to him as quickly as possible, they departed.

¹⁶While Paul was waiting for them in Athens, he was deeply distressed when he saw that the city was full of idols.

¹⁷So he reasoned in the synagogue with the Jews and with those who worshiped God, as well as in the marketplace every day with those who happened to be there.

¹⁸Some of the Epicurean and Stoic philosophers also debated with him. Some said, “What is this ignorant show-off trying to say?” Others replied, “He seems to be a preacher of foreign deities” — because he was telling the good news about Jesus and the resurrection.

¹⁹They took him and brought him to the Areopagus, and said, “May we learn about this new teaching you are presenting?

²⁰Because what you say sounds strange to us, and we want to know what these things mean.”

²¹Now all the Athenians and the foreigners residing there spent their time on nothing else but telling or hearing something new.

²²Paul stood in the middle of the Areopagus and said: “People of Athens! I see that you are extremely religious in every respect.

²³For as I was passing through and observing the objects of your worship, I even found an altar on which was inscribed: ‘To an Unknown God.’ Therefore, what you worship in ignorance, this I proclaim to you.

²⁴The God who made the world and everything in it  — he is Lord of heaven and earth  — does not live in shrines made by hands.

²⁵Neither is he served by human hands, as though he needed anything, since he himself gives everyone life and breath and all things.

²⁶From one man he has made every nationality to live over the whole earth and has determined their appointed times and the boundaries of where they live.

²⁷He did this so that they might seek God, and perhaps they might reach out and find him, though he is not far from each one of us.

²⁸For in him we live and move and have our being, as even some of your own poets have said, ‘For we are also his offspring.’

²⁹Since we are God’s offspring then, we shouldn’t think that the divine nature is like gold or silver or stone, an image fashioned by human art and imagination.

³⁰“Therefore, having overlooked the times of ignorance, God now commands all people everywhere to repent,

³¹because he has set a day when he is going to judge the world in righteousness by the man he has appointed. He has provided proof of this to everyone by raising him from the dead.”

³²When they heard about the resurrection of the dead, some began to ridicule him, but others said, “We’d like to hear from you again about this.”

³³So Paul left their presence.

³⁴However, some people joined him and believed, including Dionysius the Areopagite, a woman named Damaris, and others with them.