Professor Horner’s Reading Plan

¹He entered Jericho and was passing through.

²There was a man named Zacchaeus who was a chief tax collector, and he was rich.

³He was trying to see who Jesus was, but he was not able because of the crowd, since he was a short man.

⁴So running ahead, he climbed up a sycamore tree to see Jesus, since he was about to pass that way.

⁵When Jesus came to the place, he looked up and said to him, “Zacchaeus, hurry and come down because today it is necessary for me to stay at your house.”

⁶So he quickly came down and welcomed him joyfully.

⁷All who saw it began to complain, “He’s gone to stay with a sinful man.”

⁸But Zacchaeus stood there and said to the Lord, “Look, I’ll give half of my possessions to the poor, Lord. And if I have extorted anything from anyone, I’ll pay back four times as much.”

⁹“Today salvation has come to this house,” Jesus told him, “because he too is a son of Abraham.

¹⁰For the Son of Man has come to seek and to save the lost.”

¹¹As they were listening to this, he went on to tell a parable because he was near Jerusalem, and they thought the kingdom of God was going to appear right away.

¹²Therefore he said: “A nobleman traveled to a far country to receive for himself authority to be king and then to return.

¹³He called ten of his servants, gave them ten minas, and told them, ‘Engage in business until I come back.’

¹⁴“But his subjects hated him and sent a delegation after him, saying, ‘We don’t want this man to rule over us.’

¹⁵“At his return, having received the authority to be king, he summoned those servants he had given the money to, so that he could find out how much they had made in business.

¹⁶The first came forward and said, ‘Master, your mina has earned ten more minas.’

¹⁷“‘Well done, good servant! ’ he told him. ‘Because you have been faithful in a very small matter, have authority over ten towns.’

¹⁸“The second came and said, ‘Master, your mina has made five minas.’

¹⁹“So he said to him, ‘You will be over five towns.’

²⁰“And another came and said, ‘Master, here is your mina. I have kept it safe in a cloth

²¹because I was afraid of you since you’re a harsh man: you collect what you didn’t deposit and reap what you didn’t sow.’

²²“He told him, ‘I will condemn you by what you have said, you evil servant! If you knew I was a harsh man, collecting what I didn’t deposit and reaping what I didn’t sow,

²³why, then, didn’t you put my money in the bank? And when I returned, I would have collected it with interest.’

²⁴So he said to those standing there, ‘Take the mina away from him and give it to the one who has ten minas.’

²⁵“But they said to him, ‘Master, he has ten minas.’

²⁶“‘I tell you, that to everyone who has, more will be given; and from the one who does not have, even what he does have will be taken away.

²⁷But bring here these enemies of mine, who did not want me to rule over them, and slaughter them in my presence.’”

²⁸When he had said these things, he went on ahead, going up to Jerusalem.

²⁹As he approached Bethphage and Bethany, at the place called the Mount of Olives, he sent two of the disciples

³⁰and said, “Go into the village ahead of you. As you enter it, you will find a young donkey tied there, on which no one has ever sat. Untie it and bring it.

³¹If anyone asks you, ‘Why are you untying it? ’ say this: ‘The Lord needs it.’”

³²So those who were sent left and found it just as he had told them.

³³As they were untying the young donkey, its owners said to them, “Why are you untying the donkey?”

³⁴“The Lord needs it,” they said.

³⁵Then they brought it to Jesus, and after throwing their clothes on the donkey, they helped Jesus get on it.

³⁶As he was going along, they were spreading their clothes on the road.

³⁷Now he came near the path down the Mount of Olives, and the whole crowd of the disciples began to praise God joyfully with a loud voice for all the miracles they had seen:

³⁸Blessed is the King who comes in the name of the Lord. Peace in heaven and glory in the highest heaven!

³⁹Some of the Pharisees from the crowd told him, “Teacher, rebuke your disciples.”

⁴⁰He answered, “I tell you, if they were to keep silent, the stones would cry out.”

⁴¹As he approached and saw the city, he wept for it,

⁴²saying, “If you knew this day what would bring peace — but now it is hidden from your eyes.

⁴³For the days will come on you when your enemies will build a barricade around you, surround you, and hem you in on every side.

⁴⁴They will crush you and your children among you to the ground, and they will not leave one stone on another in your midst, because you did not recognize the time when God visited you.”

⁴⁵He went into the temple and began to throw out those who were selling,

⁴⁶and he said, “It is written, my house will be a house of prayer, but you have made it a den of thieves!”

⁴⁷Every day he was teaching in the temple. The chief priests, the scribes, and the leaders of the people were looking for a way to kill him,

⁴⁸but they could not find a way to do it, because all the people were captivated by what they heard.

¹After the plague, the LORD said to Moses and Eleazar son of Aaron the priest,

²“Take a census of the entire Israelite community by their ancestral families of those twenty years old or more who can serve in Israel’s army.”

³So Moses and the priest Eleazar said to them in the plains of Moab by the Jordan across from Jericho,

⁴“Take a census of those twenty years old or more, as the LORD had commanded Moses and the Israelites who came out of the land of Egypt.”

⁵Reuben was the firstborn of Israel. Reuben’s descendants: the Hanochite clan from Hanoch; the Palluite clan from Pallu;

⁶the Hezronite clan from Hezron; the Carmite clan from Carmi.

⁷These were the Reubenite clans, and their registered men numbered 43,730.

⁸The son of Pallu was Eliab.

⁹The sons of Eliab were Nemuel, Dathan, and Abiram. (It was Dathan and Abiram, chosen by the community, who fought against Moses and Aaron; they and Korah’s followers fought against the LORD.

¹⁰The earth opened its mouth and swallowed them with Korah, when his followers died and the fire consumed 250 men. They serve as a warning sign.

¹¹The sons of Korah, however, did not die.)

¹²Simeon’s descendants by their clans: the Nemuelite clan from Nemuel; the Jaminite clan from Jamin; the Jachinite clan from Jachin;

¹³the Zerahite clan from Zerah; the Shaulite clan from Shaul.

¹⁴These were the Simeonite clans, numbering 22,200 men.

¹⁵Gad’s descendants by their clans: the Zephonite clan from Zephon; the Haggite clan from Haggi; the Shunite clan from Shuni;

¹⁶the Oznite clan from Ozni; the Erite clan from Eri;

¹⁷the Arodite clan from Arod; the Arelite clan from Areli.

¹⁸These were the Gadite clans numbered by their registered men: 40,500.

¹⁹Judah’s sons included Er and Onan, but they died in the land of Canaan.

²⁰Judah’s descendants by their clans: the Shelanite clan from Shelah; the Perezite clan from Perez; the Zerahite clan from Zerah.

²¹The descendants of Perez: the Hezronite clan from Hezron; the Hamulite clan from Hamul.

²²These were Judah’s clans numbered by their registered men: 76,500.

²³Issachar’s descendants by their clans: the Tolaite clan from Tola; the Punite clan from Puvah;

²⁴the Jashubite clan from Jashub; the Shimronite clan from Shimron.

²⁵These were Issachar’s clans numbered by their registered men: 64,300.

²⁶Zebulun’s descendants by their clans: the Seredite clan from Sered; the Elonite clan from Elon; the Jahleelite clan from Jahleel.

²⁷These were the Zebulunite clans numbered by their registered men: 60,500.

²⁸Joseph’s descendants by their clans from Manasseh and Ephraim:

²⁹Manasseh’s descendants: the Machirite clan from Machir. Machir fathered Gilead; the Gileadite clan from Gilead.

³⁰These were Gilead’s descendants: the Iezerite clan from Iezer; the Helekite clan from Helek;

³¹the Asrielite clan from Asriel; the Shechemite clan from Shechem;

³²the Shemidaite clan from Shemida; the Hepherite clan from Hepher;

³³Zelophehad son of Hepher had no sons — only daughters. The names of Zelophehad’s daughters were Mahlah, Noah, Hoglah, Milcah, and Tirzah.

³⁴These were Manasseh’s clans, numbered by their registered men: 52,700.

³⁵These were Ephraim’s descendants by their clans: the Shuthelahite clan from Shuthelah; the Becherite clan from Becher; the Tahanite clan from Tahan.

³⁶These were Shuthelah’s descendants: the Eranite clan from Eran.

³⁷These were the Ephraimite clans numbered by their registered men: 32,500. These were Joseph’s descendants by their clans.

³⁸Benjamin’s descendants by their clans: the Belaite clan from Bela; the Ashbelite clan from Ashbel; the Ahiramite clan from Ahiram;

³⁹the Shuphamite clan from Shupham; the Huphamite clan from Hupham.

⁴⁰Bela’s descendants from Ard and Naaman: the Ardite clan from Ard; the Naamite clan from Naaman.

⁴¹These were the Benjaminite clans numbered by their registered men: 45,600.

⁴²These were Dan’s descendants by their clans: the Shuhamite clan from Shuham. These were the clans of Dan by their clans.

⁴³All the Shuhamite clans numbered by their registered men: 64,400.

⁴⁴Asher’s descendants by their clans: the Imnite clan from Imnah; the Ishvite clan from Ishvi; the Beriite clan from Beriah.

⁴⁵From Beriah’s descendants: the Heberite clan from Heber; the Malchielite clan from Malchiel.

⁴⁶And the name of Asher’s daughter was Serah.

⁴⁷These were the Asherite clans numbered by their registered men: 53,400.

⁴⁸Naphtali’s descendants by their clans: the Jahzeelite clan from Jahzeel; the Gunite clan from Guni;

⁴⁹the Jezerite clan from Jezer; the Shillemite clan from Shillem.

⁵⁰These were the Naphtali clans numbered by their registered men: 45,400.

⁵¹These registered Israelite men numbered 601,730.

⁵²The LORD spoke to Moses,

⁵³“The land is to be divided among them as an inheritance based on the number of names.

⁵⁴Increase the inheritance for a large tribe and decrease it for a small one. Each is to be given its inheritance according to those who were registered in it.

⁵⁵The land is to be divided by lot; they will receive an inheritance according to the names of their ancestral tribes.

⁵⁶Each inheritance will be divided by lot among the larger and smaller tribes.”

⁵⁷These were the Levites registered by their clans: the Gershonite clan from Gershon; the Kohathite clan from Kohath; the Merarite clan from Merari.

⁵⁸These were the Levite family groups: the Libnite clan, the Hebronite clan, the Mahlite clan, the Mushite clan, and the Korahite clan. Kohath was the ancestor of Amram.

⁵⁹The name of Amram’s wife was Jochebed, a descendant of Levi, born to Levi in Egypt. She bore to Amram: Aaron, Moses, and their sister Miriam.

⁶⁰Nadab, Abihu, Eleazar, and Ithamar were born to Aaron,

⁶¹but Nadab and Abihu died when they presented unauthorized fire before the LORD.

⁶²Those registered were 23,000, every male one month old or more; they were not registered among the other Israelites, because no inheritance was given to them among the Israelites.

⁶³These were the ones registered by Moses and the priest Eleazar when they registered the Israelites on the plains of Moab by the Jordan across from Jericho.

⁶⁴But among them there was not one of those who had been registered by Moses and the priest Aaron when they registered the Israelites in the Wilderness of Sinai.

⁶⁵For the LORD had said to them that they would all die in the wilderness. None of them was left except Caleb son of Jephunneh and Joshua son of Nun.

¹When I came to you, brothers and sisters, announcing the mystery of God to you, I did not come with brilliance of speech or wisdom.

²I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified.

³I came to you in weakness, in fear, and in much trembling.

⁴My speech and my preaching were not with persuasive words of wisdom but with a demonstration of the Spirit’s power,

⁵so that your faith might not be based on human wisdom but on God’s power.

⁶We do, however, speak a wisdom among the mature, but not a wisdom of this age, or of the rulers of this age, who are coming to nothing.

⁷On the contrary, we speak God’s hidden wisdom in a mystery, a wisdom God predestined before the ages for our glory.

⁸None of the rulers of this age knew this wisdom, because if they had known it, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.

⁹But as it is written, What no eye has seen, no ear has heard, and no human heart has conceived — God has prepared these things for those who love him.

¹⁰Now God has revealed these things to us by the Spirit, since the Spirit searches everything, even the depths of God.

¹¹For who knows a person’s thoughts except his spirit within him? In the same way, no one knows the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God.

¹²Now we have not received the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who comes from God, so that we may understand what has been freely given to us by God.

¹³We also speak these things, not in words taught by human wisdom, but in those taught by the Spirit, explaining spiritual things to spiritual people.

¹⁴But the person without the Spirit does not receive what comes from God’s Spirit, because it is foolishness to him; he is not able to understand it since it is evaluated spiritually.

¹⁵The spiritual person, however, can evaluate everything, and yet he himself cannot be evaluated by anyone.

¹⁶For who has known the Lord’s mind, that he may instruct him? But we have the mind of Christ.

¹Then Zophar the Naamathite replied:

²This is why my unsettling thoughts compel me to answer, because I am upset!

³I have heard a rebuke that insults me, and my understanding makes me reply.

⁴Don’t you know that ever since antiquity, from the time a human was placed on earth,

⁵the joy of the wicked has been brief and the happiness of the godless has lasted only a moment?

⁶Though his arrogance reaches heaven, and his head touches the clouds,

⁷he will vanish forever like his own dung. Those who know him will ask, “Where is he?”

⁸He will fly away like a dream and never be found; he will be chased away like a vision in the night.

⁹The eye that saw him will see him no more, and his household will no longer see him.

¹⁰His children will beg from the poor, for his own hands must give back his wealth.

¹¹His frame may be full of youthful vigor, but it will lie down with him in dust.

¹²Though evil tastes sweet in his mouth and he conceals it under his tongue,

¹³though he cherishes it and will not let it go but keeps it in his mouth,

¹⁴yet the food in his stomach turns into cobras’ venom inside him.

¹⁵He swallows wealth but must vomit it up; God will force it from his stomach.

¹⁶He will suck the poison of cobras; a viper’s fangs will kill him.

¹⁷He will not enjoy the streams, the rivers flowing with honey and curds.

¹⁸He must return the fruit of his labor without consuming it; he doesn’t enjoy the profits from his trading.

¹⁹For he oppressed and abandoned the poor; he seized a house he did not build.

²⁰Because his appetite is never satisfied, he does not let anything he desires escape.

²¹Nothing is left for him to consume; therefore, his prosperity will not last.

²²At the height of his success distress will come to him; the full weight of misery will crush him.

²³When he fills his stomach, God will send his burning anger against him, raining it down on him while he is eating.

²⁴If he flees from an iron weapon, an arrow from a bronze bow will pierce him.

²⁵He pulls it out of his back, the flashing tip out of his liver. Terrors come over him.

²⁶Total darkness is reserved for his treasures. A fire unfanned by human hands will consume him; it will feed on what is left in his tent.

²⁷The heavens will expose his iniquity, and the earth will rise up against him.

²⁸The possessions in his house will be removed, flowing away on the day of God’s anger.

²⁹This is the wicked person’s lot from God, the inheritance God ordained for him.

¹A psalm; a dedication song for the house. Of David. [1] I will exalt you, LORD, because you have lifted me up and have not allowed my enemies to triumph over me.

²LORD my God, I cried to you for help, and you healed me.

³LORD, you brought me up from Sheol; you spared me from among those going down to the Pit.

⁴Sing to the LORD, you his faithful ones, and praise his holy name.

⁵For his anger lasts only a moment, but his favor, a lifetime. Weeping may stay overnight, but there is joy in the morning.

⁶When I was secure, I said, “I will never be shaken.”

⁷LORD, when you showed your favor, you made me stand like a strong mountain; when you hid your face, I was terrified.

⁸LORD, I called to you; I sought favor from my Lord:

⁹“What gain is there in my death, if I go down to the Pit? Will the dust praise you? Will it proclaim your truth?

¹⁰LORD, listen and be gracious to me; LORD, be my helper.”

¹¹You turned my lament into dancing; you removed my sackcloth and clothed me with gladness,

¹²so that I can sing to you and not be silent. LORD my God, I will praise you forever.

¹Wine is a mocker, beer is a brawler; whoever goes astray because of them is not wise.

²A king’s terrible wrath is like the roaring of a lion; anyone who provokes him endangers himself.

³Honor belongs to the person who ends a dispute, but any fool can get himself into a quarrel.

⁴The slacker does not plow during planting season; at harvest time he looks, and there is nothing.

⁵Counsel in a person’s heart is deep water; but a person of understanding draws it out.

⁶Many a person proclaims his own loyalty, but who can find a trustworthy person?

⁷A righteous person acts with integrity; his children who come after him will be happy.

⁸A king sitting on a throne to judge separates out all evil with his eyes.

⁹Who can say, “I have kept my heart pure; I am cleansed from my sin”?

¹⁰Differing weights and varying measures  — both are detestable to the LORD.

¹¹Even a young man is known by his actions — by whether his behavior is pure and upright.

¹²The hearing ear and the seeing eye — the LORD made them both.

¹³Don’t love sleep, or you will become poor; open your eyes, and you’ll have enough to eat.

¹⁴“It’s worthless, it’s worthless!” the buyer says, but after he is on his way, he gloats.

¹⁵There is gold and a multitude of jewels, but knowledgeable lips are a rare treasure.

¹⁶Take his garment, for he has put up security for a stranger; get collateral if it is for foreigners.

¹⁷Food gained by fraud is sweet to a person, but afterward his mouth is full of gravel.

¹⁸Finalize plans with counsel, and wage war with sound guidance.

¹⁹The one who reveals secrets is a constant gossip; avoid someone with a big mouth.

²⁰Whoever curses his father or mother —  his lamp will go out in deep darkness.

²¹An inheritance gained prematurely will not be blessed ultimately.

²²Don’t say, “I will avenge this evil!” Wait on the LORD, and he will rescue you.

²³Differing weights are detestable to the LORD, and dishonest scales are unfair.

²⁴Even a courageous person’s steps are determined by the LORD, so how can anyone understand his own way?

²⁵It is a trap for anyone to dedicate something rashly and later to reconsider his vows.

²⁶A wise king separates out the wicked and drives the threshing wheel over them.

²⁷The LORD’s lamp sheds light on a person’s life, searching the innermost parts.

²⁸Loyalty and faithfulness guard a king; through loyalty he maintains his throne.

²⁹The glory of young men is their strength, and the splendor of old men is gray hair.

³⁰Lashes and wounds purge away evil, and beatings cleanse the innermost parts.

¹After the death of Saul, David returned from defeating the Amalekites and stayed at Ziklag two days.

²On the third day a man with torn clothes and dust on his head came from Saul’s camp. When he came to David, he fell to the ground and paid homage.

³David asked him, “Where have you come from?” He replied to him, “I’ve escaped from the Israelite camp.”

⁴“What was the outcome? Tell me,” David asked him. “The troops fled from the battle,” he answered. “Many of the troops have fallen and are dead. Also, Saul and his son Jonathan are dead.”

⁵David asked the young man who had brought him the report, “How do you know Saul and his son Jonathan are dead?”

⁶“I happened to be on Mount Gilboa,” he replied, “and there was Saul, leaning on his spear. At that very moment the chariots and the cavalry were closing in on him.

⁷When he turned around and saw me, he called out to me, so I answered: I’m at your service.

⁸He asked me, ‘Who are you? ’ I told him: I’m an Amalekite.

⁹Then he begged me, ‘Stand over me and kill me, for I’m mortally wounded, but my life still lingers.’

¹⁰So I stood over him and killed him because I knew that after he had fallen he couldn’t survive. I took the crown that was on his head and the armband that was on his arm, and I’ve brought them here to my lord.”

¹¹Then David took hold of his clothes and tore them, and all the men with him did the same.

¹²They mourned, wept, and fasted until the evening for those who died by the sword — for Saul, his son Jonathan, the LORD’s people, and the house of Israel.

¹³David inquired of the young man who had brought him the report, “Where are you from?” “I’m the son of a resident alien,” he said. “I’m an Amalekite.”

¹⁴David questioned him, “How is it that you were not afraid to lift your hand to destroy the LORD’s anointed?”

¹⁵Then David summoned one of his servants and said, “Come here and kill him!” The servant struck him, and he died.

¹⁶For David had said to the Amalekite, “Your blood is on your own head because your own mouth testified against you by saying, ‘I killed the LORD’s anointed.’”

¹⁷David sang the following lament for Saul and his son Jonathan,

¹⁸and he ordered that the Judahites be taught The Song of the Bow. It is written in the Book of Jashar:

¹⁹The splendor of Israel lies slain on your heights. How the mighty have fallen!

²⁰Do not tell it in Gath, don’t announce it in the marketplaces of Ashkelon, or the daughters of the Philistines will rejoice, and the daughters of the uncircumcised will celebrate.

²¹Mountains of Gilboa, let no dew or rain be on you, or fields of offerings, for there the shield of the mighty was defiled  — the shield of Saul, no longer anointed with oil.

²²Jonathan’s bow never retreated, Saul’s sword never returned unstained, from the blood of the slain, from the flesh of the mighty.

²³Saul and Jonathan, loved and delightful, they were not parted in life or in death. They were swifter than eagles, stronger than lions.

²⁴Daughters of Israel, weep for Saul, who clothed you in scarlet, with luxurious things, who decked your garments with gold ornaments.

²⁵How the mighty have fallen in the thick of battle! Jonathan lies slain on your heights.

²⁶I grieve for you, Jonathan, my brother. You were such a friend to me. Your love for me was more wondrous than the love of women.

²⁷How the mighty have fallen and the weapons of war have perished!

¹This is the word of the LORD that came to Jeremiah concerning the drought:

²Judah mourns; her city gates languish. Her people are on the ground in mourning; Jerusalem’s cry rises up.

³Their nobles send their servants for water. They go to the cisterns; they find no water; their containers return empty. They are ashamed and humiliated; they cover their heads.

⁴The ground is cracked since no rain has fallen on the land. The farmers are ashamed; they cover their heads.

⁵Even the doe in the field gives birth and abandons her fawn since there is no grass.

⁶Wild donkeys stand on the barren heights panting for air like jackals. Their eyes fail because there are no green plants.

⁷Though our iniquities testify against us, LORD, act for your name’s sake. Indeed, our rebellions are many; we have sinned against you.

⁸Hope of Israel, its Savior in time of distress, why are you like a resident alien in the land, like a traveler stopping only for the night?

⁹Why are you like a helpless man, like a warrior unable to save? Yet you are among us, LORD, and we bear your name. Don’t leave us!

¹⁰This is what the LORD says concerning these people: Truly they love to wander; they never rest their feet. So the LORD does not accept them. Now he will remember their iniquity and punish their sins.

¹¹Then the LORD said to me, “Do not pray for the well-being of these people.

¹²If they fast, I will not hear their cry of despair. If they offer burnt offering and grain offering, I will not accept them. Rather, I will finish them off by sword, famine, and plague.”

¹³And I replied, “Oh no, Lord GOD! The prophets are telling them, ‘You won’t see sword or suffer famine. I will certainly give you lasting peace in this place.’”

¹⁴But the LORD said to me, “These prophets are prophesying a lie in my name. I did not send them, nor did I command them or speak to them. They are prophesying to you a false vision, worthless divination, the deceit of their own minds.

¹⁵“Therefore, this is what the LORD says concerning the prophets who prophesy in my name, though I did not send them, and who say, ‘There will never be sword or famine in this land.’ By sword and famine these prophets will meet their end.

¹⁶The people they are prophesying to will be thrown into the streets of Jerusalem because of the famine and the sword. There will be no one to bury them  — they, their wives, their sons, and their daughters. I will pour out their own evil on them.”

¹⁷You are to speak this word to them: Let my eyes overflow with tears; day and night may they not stop, for the virgin daughter of my people has been destroyed by a crushing blow, an extremely severe wound.

¹⁸If I go out to the field, look — those slain by the sword! If I enter the city, look — those ill from famine! For both prophet and priest travel to a land they do not know.

¹⁹Have you completely rejected Judah? Do you detest Zion? Why do you strike us with no hope of healing for us? We hoped for peace, but there was nothing good; for a time of healing, but there was only terror.

²⁰We acknowledge our wickedness, LORD, the iniquity of our fathers; indeed, we have sinned against you.

²¹For your name’s sake, don’t despise us. Don’t disdain your glorious throne. Remember your covenant with us; do not break it.

²²Can any of the worthless idols of the nations bring rain? Or can the skies alone give showers? Are you not the LORD our God? We therefore put our hope in you, for you have done all these things.

¹“Brothers and fathers, listen now to my defense before you.”

²When they heard that he was addressing them in Aramaic, they became even quieter.

³He continued, “I am a Jew, born in Tarsus of Cilicia but brought up in this city, educated at the feet of Gamaliel according to the law of our ancestors. I was zealous for God, just as all of you are today.

⁴I persecuted this Way to the death, arresting and putting both men and women in jail,

⁵as both the high priest and the whole council of elders can testify about me. After I received letters from them to the brothers, I traveled to Damascus to arrest those who were there and bring them to Jerusalem to be punished.

⁶“As I was traveling and approaching Damascus, about noon an intense light from heaven suddenly flashed around me.

⁷I fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to me, ‘Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?’

⁸“I answered, ‘Who are you, Lord?’ “He said to me, ‘I am Jesus of Nazareth, the one you are persecuting.’

⁹Now those who were with me saw the light, but they did not hear the voice of the one who was speaking to me.

¹⁰“I said, ‘What should I do, Lord?’ “The Lord told me, ‘Get up and go into Damascus, and there you will be told everything that you have been assigned to do.’

¹¹“Since I couldn’t see because of the brightness of the light, I was led by the hand by those who were with me, and went into Damascus.

¹²Someone named Ananias, a devout man according to the law, who had a good reputation with all the Jews living there,

¹³came and stood by me and said, ‘Brother Saul, regain your sight.’ And in that very hour I looked up and saw him.

¹⁴And he said, ‘The God of our ancestors has appointed you to know his will, to see the Righteous One, and to hear the words from his mouth,

¹⁵since you will be a witness for him to all people of what you have seen and heard.

¹⁶And now, why are you delaying? Get up and be baptized, and wash away your sins, calling on his name.’

¹⁷“After I returned to Jerusalem and was praying in the temple, I fell into a trance

¹⁸and saw him telling me, ‘Hurry and get out of Jerusalem quickly, because they will not accept your testimony about me.’

¹⁹“But I said, ‘Lord, they know that in synagogue after synagogue I had those who believed in you imprisoned and beaten.

²⁰And when the blood of your witness Stephen was being shed, I stood there giving approval and guarding the clothes of those who killed him.’

²¹“He said to me, ‘Go, because I will send you far away to the Gentiles.’  ”

²²They listened to him up to this point. Then they raised their voices, shouting, “Wipe this man off the face of the earth! He should not be allowed to live!”

²³As they were yelling and flinging aside their garments and throwing dust into the air,

²⁴the commander ordered him to be brought into the barracks, directing that he be interrogated with the scourge to discover the reason they were shouting against him like this.

²⁵As they stretched him out for the lash, Paul said to the centurion standing by, “Is it legal for you to scourge a man who is a Roman citizen and is uncondemned?”

²⁶When the centurion heard this, he went and reported to the commander, saying, “What are you going to do? For this man is a Roman citizen.”

²⁷The commander came and said to him, “Tell me, are you a Roman citizen?” “Yes,” he said.

²⁸The commander replied, “I bought this citizenship for a large amount of money.” “But I was born a citizen,” Paul said.

²⁹So those who were about to examine him withdrew from him immediately. The commander too was alarmed when he realized Paul was a Roman citizen and he had bound him.

³⁰The next day, since he wanted to find out exactly why Paul was being accused by the Jews, he released him and instructed the chief priests and all the Sanhedrin to convene. He brought Paul down and placed him before them.