Professor Horner’s Reading Plan

¹Jesus entered Jericho and was passing through.

²And there was a man called by the name of Zaccheus; he was a chief tax collector and he was rich.

³Zaccheus was trying to see who Jesus was, and he was unable due to the crowd, because he was short in stature.

⁴So he ran on ahead and climbed up a sycamore tree in order to see Him, because He was about to pass through that way.

⁵And when Jesus came to the place, He looked up and said to him, “Zaccheus, hurry and come down, for today I must stay at your house.”

⁶And he hurried and came down, and received Him joyfully.

⁷When the people saw this, they all began to complain, saying, “He has gone in to be the guest of a man who is a sinner!”

⁸But Zaccheus stopped and said to the Lord, “Behold, Lord, half of my possessions I am giving to the poor, and if I have extorted anything from anyone, I am giving back four times as much.”

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

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

¹¹Now while they were listening to these things, Jesus went on to tell a parable, because He was near Jerusalem and they thought that the kingdom of God was going to appear immediately.

¹²So He said, “A nobleman went to a distant country to receive a kingdom for himself, and then to return.

¹³And he called ten of his own slaves and gave them tenminas, and said to them, ‘Do business with this moneyuntil I come back.’

¹⁴But his citizens hated him and sent a delegation after him, saying, ‘We do not want this man to reign over us.’

¹⁵When he returned after receiving the kingdom, he ordered that these slaves, to whom he had given the money, be summoned to him so that he would learn how much they had made by the business they had done.

¹⁶The first slave appeared, saying, ‘Master, yourmina has made ten minas more.’

¹⁷And he said to him, ‘Well done, good slave; since you have been faithful in a very little thing, you are to have authority over ten cities.’

¹⁸The second one came, saying, ‘Yourmina,master, has made five minas.’

¹⁹And he said to him also, ‘And you are to be over five cities.’

²⁰And then another came, saying, ‘Master, here is your mina, which I kept tucked away in a handkerchief;

²¹for I was afraid of you, because you are a demanding man; you take up what you did not lay down, and reap what you did not sow.’

²²He *said to him, ‘From your own lips I will judge you, you worthless slave. Did you know that I am a demanding man, taking up what I did not lay down, and reaping what I did not sow?

²³And so why did you not put my money in the bank, and when I came back, I would have collected it with interest?’

²⁴And then he said to the other slaves who were present, ‘Take the mina away from him and give it to the one who has the ten minas.’

²⁵And they said to him, ‘Master, he already has ten minas.’

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

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

²⁸After Jesus said these things, He was going on ahead, going up to Jerusalem.

²⁹When He approached Bethphage and Bethany, near the mountain that is called Olivet, He sent two of the disciples,

³⁰saying, “Go into the villageahead of you; there, as you enter, you will find a colt tied, on which no one yet has ever sat; untie it and bring it here.

³¹And if anyone asks you, ‘Why are you untying it?’ you shall say this: ‘The Lord has need of it.’ ”

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

³³And as they were untying the colt, its owners said to them, “Why are you untying the colt?”

³⁴They said, “The Lord has need of it.”

³⁵And they brought it to Jesus, and they threw their cloaks on the colt and put Jesus on it.

³⁶Now as He was going, they were spreading their cloaks on the road.

³⁷And as soon as He was approaching, near the descent of the Mount of Olives, the whole crowd of the disciples began to praise God joyfully with a loud voice for all the miracles which they had seen,

³⁸shouting: “BLESSED IS the King, THE ONE WHO COMES IN THE NAME OF THE LORD; Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!”

³⁹And yet some of the Pharisees in the crowd said to Him, “Teacher, rebuke Your disciples!”

⁴⁰Jesus replied, “I tell you, if these stop speaking, the stones will cry out!”

⁴¹When He approached Jerusalem, He saw the city and wept over it,

⁴²saying, “If you had known on this day, even you, the conditions for peace! But now they have been hidden from your eyes.

⁴³For the days will come upon youwhen your enemies will put up abarricade against you, and surround you and hem you in on every side,

⁴⁴and they will level you to the ground, and throw down your children within you, and they will not leave in you one stone uponanother, because you did not recognize the time of your visitation.”

⁴⁵And Jesus entered the temple grounds and began to drive out those who were selling,

⁴⁶saying to them, “It is written: ‘AND MY HOUSE WILL BE A HOUSE OF PRAYER,’ but you have made it a DEN OF ROBBERS.”

⁴⁷And He was teaching daily in the temple; but the chief priests and the scribes and the leading men among the people were trying to put Him to death,

⁴⁸and yet they could not find anything that they might do, for all the people were hanging on to every word He said.

¹Then it came about after the plague, that the LORD spoke to Moses and to Eleazar the son of Aaron the priest, saying,

²“Take a census of all the congregation of the sons of Israel from twenty years old and upward, by their fathers’ households, whoever is able to go to war in Israel.”

³So Moses and Eleazar the priest spoke with them in the plains of Moab by the Jordan at Jericho, saying,

⁴“Take a census of the people from twenty years old and upward, as the LORD has commanded Moses.” Now the sons of Israel who came out of the land of Egypt were as follows:

⁵Reuben, Israel’s firstborn, the sons of Reuben: of Hanoch, the family of the Hanochites; of Pallu, the family of the Palluites;

⁶of Hezron, the family of the Hezronites; of Carmi, the family of the Carmites.

⁷These are the families of the Reubenites, and those who were counted of them were 43,730.

⁸The son of Pallu: Eliab.

⁹The sons of Eliab: Nemuel, Dathan, and Abiram. These are the Dathan and Abiram who were called by the congregation, who fought against Moses and against Aaron in the group of Korah, when they fought against the LORD,

¹⁰and the earth opened its mouth and swallowed them up along with Korah, when that group died, when the fire devoured 250 men, so that they became a warning sign.

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

¹²The sons of Simeon by their families: of Nemuel, the family of the Nemuelites; of Jamin, the family of the Jaminites; of Jachin, the family of the Jachinites;

¹³of Zerah, the family of the Zerahites; of Shaul, the family of the Shaulites.

¹⁴These are the families of the Simeonites, 22,200 in number.

¹⁵The sons of Gad by their families: of Zephon, the family of the Zephonites; of Haggi, the family of the Haggites; of Shuni, the family of the Shunites;

¹⁶of Ozni, the family of the Oznites; of Eri, the family of the Erites;

¹⁷of Arod, the family of the Arodites; of Areli, the family of the Arelites.

¹⁸These are the families of the sons of Gad according to those who were numbered of them, 40,500.

¹⁹The sons of Judah were Er and Onan, but Er and Onan died in the land of Canaan.

²⁰The sons of Judah by their families were: of Shelah, the family of the Shelanites; of Perez, the family of the Perezites; of Zerah, the family of the Zerahites.

²¹The sons of Perez were: of Hezron, the family of the Hezronites; of Hamul, the family of the Hamulites.

²²These are the families of Judah by those who were numbered of them, 76,500.

²³The sons of Issachar by their families: of Tola, the family of the Tolaites; of Puvah, the family of the Punites;

²⁴of Jashub, the family of the Jashubites; of Shimron, the family of the Shimronites.

²⁵These are the families of Issachar by those who were numbered of them, 64,300.

²⁶The sons of Zebulun by their families: of Sered, the family of the Seredites; of Elon, the family of the Elonites; of Jahleel, the family of the Jahleelites.

²⁷These are the families of the Zebulunites by those who were numbered of them, 60,500.

²⁸The sons of Joseph by their families: Manasseh and Ephraim.

²⁹The sons of Manasseh: of Machir, the family of the Machirites; and Machir fathered Gilead: of Gilead, the family of the Gileadites.

³⁰These are the sons of Gilead: of Iezer, the family of the Iezerites; of Helek, the family of the Helekites;

³¹and of Asriel, the family of the Asrielites; and of Shechem, the family of the Shechemites;

³²and of Shemida, the family of the Shemidaites; and of Hepher, the family of the Hepherites.

³³Now Zelophehad the son of Hepher had no sons, only daughters; and the names of the daughters of Zelophehad were Mahlah, Noah, Hoglah, Milcah, and Tirzah.

³⁴These are the families of Manasseh; and those who were numbered of them were 52,700.

³⁵These are the sons of Ephraim by their families: of Shuthelah, the family of the Shuthelahites; of Becher, the family of the Becherites; of Tahan, the family of the Tahanites.

³⁶These are the sons of Shuthelah: of Eran, the family of the Eranites.

³⁷These are the families of the sons of Ephraim by those who were numbered of them, 32,500. These are the sons of Joseph by their families.

³⁸The sons of Benjamin by their families: of Bela, the family of the Belaites; of Ashbel, the family of the Ashbelites; of Ahiram, the family of the Ahiramites;

³⁹of Shephupham, the family of the Shuphamites; of Hupham, the family of the Huphamites.

⁴⁰The sons of Bela were Ard and Naaman: of Ard, the family of the Ardites; of Naaman, the family of the Naamites.

⁴¹These are the sons of Benjamin by their families; and those who were numbered of them were 45,600.

⁴²These are the sons of Dan by their families: of Shuham, the family of the Shuhamites. These are the families of Dan by their families.

⁴³All the families of the Shuhamites, by those who were numbered of them, were 64,400.

⁴⁴The sons of Asher by their families: of Imnah, the family of the Imnites; of Ishvi, the family of the Ishvites; of Beriah, the family of the Beriites.

⁴⁵Of the sons of Beriah: of Heber, the family of the Heberites; of Malchiel, the family of the Malchielites.

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

⁴⁷These are the families of the sons of Asher by those who were numbered of them, 53,400.

⁴⁸The sons of Naphtali by their families: of Jahzeel, the family of the Jahzeelites; of Guni, the family of the Gunites;

⁴⁹of Jezer, the family of the Jezerites; of Shillem, the family of the Shillemites.

⁵⁰These are the families of Naphtali by their families; and those who were numbered of them were 45,400.

⁵¹These are the ones who were numbered of the sons of Israel, 601,730.

⁵²Then the LORD spoke to Moses, saying,

⁵³“Among these the land shall be divided as an inheritance according to the number of names.

⁵⁴To a larger group you shall increase their inheritance, and to a smaller group you shall decrease their inheritance; each shall be given their inheritance corresponding to the total of those who were numbered of them.

⁵⁵But the land shall be divided by lot. They shall receive their inheritance according to the names of the tribes of their fathers.

⁵⁶Corresponding to the selection by lot, their inheritance shall be divided between the larger and the smaller groups.”

⁵⁷These are those who were numbered of the Levites according to their families: of Gershon, the family of the Gershonites; of Kohath, the family of the Kohathites; of Merari, the family of the Merarites.

⁵⁸These are the families of Levi: the family of the Libnites, the family of the Hebronites, the family of the Mahlites, the family of the Mushites, and the family of the Korahites. Kohath fathered Amram.

⁵⁹And the name of Amram’s wife was Jochebed, the daughter of Levi, who was born to Levi in Egypt; and she bore to Amram Aaron and Moses, and their sister Miriam.

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

⁶¹But Nadab and Abihu died when they offered strange fire before the LORD.

⁶²Those who were numbered of them were twenty-three thousand, every male from a month old and upward, for they were not numbered among the sons of Israel since no inheritance was given to them among the sons of Israel.

⁶³These are the ones who were numbered by Moses and Eleazar the priest, who numbered the sons of Israel in the plains of Moab by the Jordan at Jericho.

⁶⁴But among these there was not a man of those who were numbered by Moses and Aaron the priest, who numbered the sons of Israel in the wilderness of Sinai.

⁶⁵For the LORD had said of them, “They shall certainly die in the wilderness.” And not a man was left of them, except Caleb the son of Jephunneh and Joshua the son of Nun.

¹And when I came to you, brothers and sisters, I did not come as someone superior in speaking ability or wisdom, as I proclaimed to you the testimony of God.

²For I determined to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ, and Him crucified.

³I also was with you in weakness and fear, and in great trembling,

⁴and my message and my preaching were not in persuasive words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power,

⁵so that your faith would not rest on the wisdom of mankind, but on the power of God.

⁶Yet we do speak wisdom among those who are mature; a wisdom, however, not of this age nor of the rulers of this age, who are passing away;

⁷but we speak God’s wisdom in a mystery, the hidden wisdom which God predestined before the ages to our glory;

⁸the wisdom which none of the rulers of this age has understood; for if they had understood it, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory;

⁹but just as it is written: “THINGS WHICH EYE HAS NOT SEEN AND EAR HAS NOT HEARD, AND which have not entered the human heart, ALL THAT GOD HAS PREPARED FOR THOSE WHO LOVE HIM.”

¹⁰For to us God revealed them through the Spirit; for the Spirit searches all things, even the depths of God.

¹¹For who among people knows the thoughts of a person except the spirit of the person that is in him? So also the thoughts of God no one knows, except the Spirit of God.

¹²Now we have not received the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, so that we may know the things 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, combining spiritual thoughts with spiritual words.

¹⁴But a natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually discerned.

¹⁵But the one who is spiritual discerns all things, yet he himself is discerned by no one.

¹⁶For WHO HAS KNOWN THE MIND OF THE LORD, THAT HE WILL INSTRUCT HIM? But we have the mind of Christ.

¹Then Zophar the Naamathite responded,

²“Therefore my disquieting thoughts make me respond, Even because of my inward agitation.

³I listened to the reprimand which insults me, And the spirit of my understanding makes me answer.

⁴Do you know this from ancient times, From the establishment of mankind on earth,

⁵That the rejoicing of the wicked is short, And the joy of the godless momentary?

⁶Though his arrogance reaches the heavens, And his head touches the clouds,

⁷He perishes forever like his refuse; Those who have seen him will say, ‘Where is he?’

⁸He flies away like a dream, and they cannot find him; Like a vision of the night he is chased away.

⁹The eye which saw him sees him no longer, And his place no longer beholds him.

¹⁰His sons favor the poor, And his hands give back his wealth.

¹¹His bones are full of his youthful strength, But it lies down with him in the dust.

¹²“Though evil tastes sweet in his mouth And he hides it under his tongue,

¹³Though he desires it and will not let it go, But holds it in his mouth,

¹⁴Yet his food in his stomach is changed To the venom of cobras within him.

¹⁵He swallows riches, But will vomit them up; God will expel them from his belly.

¹⁶He sucks the poison of cobras; The viper’s tongue kills him.

¹⁷He does not look at the streams, The rivers flowing with honey and curds.

¹⁸He returns the product of his labor And cannot swallow it; As to the riches of his trading, He cannot even enjoy them.

¹⁹For he has oppressed and neglected the poor; He has seized a house which he has not built.

²⁰“Because he knew no quiet within him, He does not retain anything he desires.

²¹Nothing remains for him to devour, Therefore his prosperity does not endure.

²²In the fullness of his excess he will be cramped; The hand of everyone who suffers will come against him.

²³When he fills his belly, God will send His fierce anger on him And rain it on him while he is eating.

²⁴He may flee from the iron weapon, But the bronze bow will pierce him.

²⁵It is drawn and comes out of his back, Even the flashing point from his gallbladder; Terrors come upon him,

²⁶Complete darkness is held in reserve for his treasures, And unfanned fire will devour him; It will consume the survivor in his tent.

²⁷The heavens will reveal his guilt, And the earth will rise up against him.

²⁸The increase of his house will disappear; His possessions will flow away on the day of His anger.

²⁹This is a wicked person’s portion from God, The inheritance decreed to him by God.”

¹I will exalt You, LORD, for You have lifted me up, And have not let my enemies rejoice over me.

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

³LORD, You have brought up my soul from Sheol; You have kept me alive, that I would not go down to the pit.

⁴Sing praise to the LORD, you His godly ones, And praise the mention of His holiness.

⁵For His anger is but for a moment, His favor is for a lifetime; Weeping may last for the night, But a shout of joy comes in the morning.

⁶Now as for me, I said in my prosperity, “I will never be moved.”

⁷LORD, by Your favor You have made my mountain to stand strong; You hid Your face, I was dismayed.

⁸To You, LORD, I called, And to the Lord I pleaded for compassion:

⁹“What gain is there in my blood, if I go down to the pit? Will the dust praise You? Will it declare Your faithfulness?

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

¹¹You have turned my mourning into dancing for me; You have untied my sackcloth and encircled me with joy,

¹²That my soul may sing praise to You and not be silent. LORD my God, I will give thanks to You forever.

¹Wine is a mocker, intoxicating drink a brawler, And whoever is intoxicated by it is not wise.

²The terror of a king is like the roaring of a lion; One who provokes him to anger forfeits his own life.

³Avoiding strife is an honor for a person, But any fool will quarrel.

⁴The lazy one does not plow after the autumn, So he begs during the harvest and has nothing.

⁵A plan in the heart of a person is like 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 who walks in his integrity— How blessed are his sons after him.

⁸A king who sits on the throne of justice Disperses all evil with his eyes.

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

¹⁰Differing weights and differing measures, Both of them are abominable to the LORD.

¹¹It is by his deeds that a boy distinguishes himself, If his conduct is pure and right.

¹²The hearing ear and the seeing eye, The LORD has made both of them.

¹³Do not love sleep, or you will become poor; Open your eyes, and you will be satisfied with food.

¹⁴“Bad, bad,” says the buyer, But when he goes his way, then he boasts.

¹⁵There is gold, and an abundance of jewels; But lips of knowledge are a more precious thing.

¹⁶Take his garment when he becomes guarantor for a stranger; And for foreigners, seize a pledge from him.

¹⁷Bread obtained by a lie is sweet to a person, But afterward his mouth will be filled with gravel.

¹⁸Prepare plans by consultation, And make war by wise guidance.

¹⁹One who goes about as a slanderer reveals secrets; Therefore do not associate with a gossip.

²⁰He who curses his father or his mother, His lamp will go out in time of darkness.

²¹An inheritance gained in a hurry at the beginning Will not be blessed in the end.

²²Do not say, “I will repay evil”; Wait for the LORD, and He will save you.

²³Differing weights are an abomination to the LORD, And a false scale is not good.

²⁴A man’s steps are ordained by the LORD; How then can a person understand his way?

²⁵It is a trap for a person to say carelessly, “It is holy!” And after the vows to make inquiry.

²⁶A wise king scatters the wicked, And drives a threshing wheel over them.

²⁷The spirit of a person is the lamp of the LORD, Searching all the innermost parts of his being.

²⁸Loyalty and truth watch over the king, And he upholds his throne by loyalty.

²⁹The glory of young men is their strength, And the honor of old men is their gray hair.

³⁰Bruising wounds clean away evil, And blows cleanse the innermost parts.

¹Now it came about after the death of Saul, when David had returned from the slaughter of the Amalekites, that David stayed two days in Ziklag.

²And on the third day, behold, a man came from Saul’s camp with his clothes torn and dust on his head. And it happened when he came to David, he fell to the ground and prostrated himself.

³Then David said to him, “From where do you come?” And he said to him, “I have escaped from the camp of Israel.”

⁴David said to him, “How did things go? Please tell me.” And he said, “The people have fled from the battle, and many of the people also have fallen and are dead; and Saul and his son Jonathan are also dead.”

⁵Then David said to the young man who told him, “How do you know that Saul and his son Jonathan are dead?”

⁶The young man who told him said, “By chance I happened to be on Mount Gilboa, and behold, Saul was leaning on his spear. And behold, the chariots and the horsemen had overtaken him.

⁷When he looked behind himself, he saw me, and called to me. And I said, ‘Here I am.’

⁸Then he said to me, ‘Who are you?’ And I answered him, ‘I am an Amalekite.’

⁹And he said to me, ‘Please stand next to me and finish me off, for agony has seized me because my life still lingers in me.’

¹⁰So I stood next to him and finished him off, because I knew that he could not live after he had fallen. And I took the crown which was on his head and the band which was on his arm, and I have brought them here to my lord.”

¹¹Then David took hold of his clothes and tore them, and so also did all the men who were with him.

¹²And they mourned and wept and fasted until evening for Saul and his son Jonathan, and for the people of the LORD and the house of Israel, because they had fallen by the sword.

¹³Then David said to the young man who informed him, “Where are you from?” And he answered, “I am the son of a stranger, an Amalekite.”

¹⁴And David said to him, “How is it you were not afraid to reach out with your hand to destroy the LORD’S anointed?”

¹⁵Then David called one of the young men and said, “Come forward, put him to death.” So he struck him and he died.

¹⁶And David said to him, “Your blood is on your head, because your own mouth has testified against you, saying, ‘I have finished off the LORD’S anointed.’ ”

¹⁷Then David sang this song of mourning over Saul and his son Jonathan,

¹⁸and he told them to teach the sons of Judah the mourning song of the bow; behold, it is written in the Book of Jashar.

¹⁹“Your beauty, Israel, is slaughtered on your high places! How the mighty have fallen!

²⁰Tell it not in Gath, Proclaim it not in the streets of Ashkelon, Or the daughters of the Philistines will rejoice, The daughters of the uncircumcised will celebrate.

²¹Mountains of Gilboa, May there be no dew nor rain on you, or fields of offerings! For there the shield of the mighty was defiled, The shield of Saul, not anointed with oil.

²²From the blood of those slaughtered, from the fat of the mighty, The bow of Jonathan did not turn back, And the sword of Saul did not return unstained.

²³Saul and Jonathan, beloved and delightful in life, And in their deaths they were not separated; They were swifter than eagles, They were mightier than lions.

²⁴Daughters of Israel, weep over Saul, Who clothed you in scarlet, with jewelry, Who put gold jewelry on your apparel.

²⁵How the mighty have fallen in the midst of the battle! Jonathan is slaughtered on your high places.

²⁶I am distressed for you, my brother Jonathan; You have been a close friend to me. Your love for me was more wonderful Than the love of women.

²⁷How the mighty have fallen, And the weapons of war have perished!”

¹That which came as the word of the LORD to Jeremiah regarding the drought:

²“Judah mourns And her gates languish; Her people sit on the ground in mourning garments, And the cry of Jerusalem has ascended.

³Their nobles have sent their servants for water; They have come to the cisterns and found no water. They have returned with their containers empty; They have been put to shame and humiliated, And they cover their heads,

⁴Because the ground is cracked, For there has been no rain on the land. The farmers have been put to shame, They have covered their heads.

⁵For even the doe in the field has given birth only to abandon her young, Because there is no grass.

⁶The wild donkeys stand on the bare heights; They pant for air like jackals, Their eyes fail Because there is no vegetation.

⁷Though our wrongdoings testify against us, LORD, act for the sake of Your name! Our apostasies have indeed been many, We have sinned against You.

⁸Hope of Israel, Its Savior in time of distress, Why are You like a stranger in the land, Or like a traveler who has pitched his tent for the night?

⁹Why are You like a confused person, Like a warrior who cannot save? Yet You are in our midst, LORD, And we are called by Your name; Do not leave us!”

¹⁰This is what the LORD says to this people: “So much they have loved to wander; they have not restrained their feet. Therefore the LORD does not accept them; now He will remember their wrongdoing and call their sins to account.”

¹¹So the LORD said to me, “Do not pray for a good outcome on behalf of this people.

¹²When they fast, I am not going to listen to their cry; and when they offer burnt offering and grain offering, I am not going to accept them. Rather, I am going to put an end to them by the sword, famine, and plague.”

¹³But I said, “Oh, Lord GOD! Behold, the prophets are telling them, ‘You will not see a sword, nor will you have famine; on the contrary, I will give you lasting peace in this place.’ ”

¹⁴Then the LORD said to me, “The prophets are prophesying falsehood in My name. I have neither sent them nor commanded them, nor spoken to them; they are prophesying to you a false vision, divination, futility, and the deception of their own minds.

¹⁵Therefore this is what the LORD says concerning the prophets who are prophesying in My name, although it was not I who sent them—yet they keep saying: ‘There will be no sword or famine in this land’—by sword and famine those prophets shall meet their end!

¹⁶And the people to whom they are prophesying will be thrown out into the streets of Jerusalem because of the famine and the sword; and there will be no one to bury them—neither them, nor their wives, nor their sons, nor their daughters. For I will pour out their own wickedness upon them.

¹⁷You will say this word to them, ‘Let my eyes stream down tears night and day, And let them not cease; For the virgin daughter of my people has been crushed with a mighty blow, With a sorely infected wound.

¹⁸If I go out to the country, There are those killed by the sword! Or if I enter the city, There are diseases from famine! For both prophet and priest Have wandered around in the land that they do not know.’ ”

¹⁹Have You completely rejected Judah? Or have You loathed Zion? Why have You stricken us so that we are beyond healing? We waited for peace, but nothing good came; And for a time of healing, but behold, terror!

²⁰We know our wickedness, LORD, The wrongdoing of our fathers, for we have sinned against You.

²¹Do not despise us, for the sake of Your own name; Do not disgrace the throne of Your glory. Remember and do not annul Your covenant with us.

²²Are there any among the idols of the nations who give rain? Or can the heavens grant showers? Is it not You, LORD our God? Therefore we wait for You, For You are the one who has done all these things.

¹“Brothers and fathers, hear my defense which I now offer to you.”

²And when they heard that he was addressing them in the Hebrew dialect, they became even more quiet; and he *said,

³“I am a Jew, born in Tarsus of Cilicia, but brought up in this city, educated under Gamaliel, strictly according to the Law of our fathers, being zealous for God just as you all are today.

⁴I persecuted this Way to the death, binding and putting both men and women into prisons,

⁵as also the high priest and all the Council of the elders can testify. From them I also received letters to the brothers, and started off for Damascus in order to bring even those who were there to Jerusalem as prisoners to be punished.

⁶“But it happened that as I was on my way, approaching Damascus at about noon, a very bright light suddenly flashed from heaven all around me,

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

⁸And I answered, ‘Who are You, Lord?’ And He said to me, ‘I am Jesus the Nazarene, whom you are persecuting.’

⁹And those who were with me saw the light, but did not understand the voice of the One who was speaking to me.

¹⁰And I said, ‘What shall I do, Lord?’ And the Lord said to me, ‘Get up and go on into Damascus, and there you will be told about everything that has been appointed for you to do.’

¹¹But since I could not see because of the brightness of that light, I came into Damascus being led by the hand by those who were with me.

¹²“Now a certain Ananias, a man who was devout by the standard of the Law and well spoken of by all the Jews who lived there,

¹³came to me, and standing nearby he said to me, ‘Brother Saul, receive your sight!’ And at that very moment I looked up at him.

¹⁴And he said, ‘The God of our fathers has appointed you to know His will and to see the Righteous One and to hear a message from His mouth.

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

¹⁶Now why do you delay? Get up and be baptized, and wash away your sins by calling on His name.’

¹⁷“It happened when I returned to Jerusalem and was praying in the temple, that I fell into a trance,

¹⁸and I saw Him saying to me, ‘Hurry and get out of Jerusalem quickly, because they will not accept your testimony about Me.’

¹⁹And I said, ‘Lord, they themselves understand that in one synagogue after another I used to imprison and beat those who believed in You.

²⁰And when the blood of Your witness Stephen was being shed, I also was standing nearby and approving, and watching over the cloaks of those who were killing him.’

²¹And He said to me, ‘Go! For I will send you far away to the Gentiles.’  ”

²²They listened to him up to this statement, and then they raised their voices and said, “Away with such a man from the earth, for he should not be allowed to live!”

²³And as they were shouting and throwing off their cloaks and tossing dust into the air,

²⁴the commander ordered that he be brought into the barracks, saying that he was to be interrogated by flogging so that he would find out the reason why they were shouting against him that way.

²⁵But when they stretched him out with straps, Paul said to the centurion who was standing by, “Is it lawful for you to flog a man who is a Roman and uncondemned?”

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

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

²⁸The commander answered, “I acquired this citizenship for a large sum of money.” And Paul said, “But I was actually born a citizen.”

²⁹Therefore, those who were about to interrogate him immediately backed away from him; and the commander also was afraid when he found out that he was a Roman, and because he had put him in chains.

³⁰Now on the next day, wanting to know for certain why Paul had been accused by the Jews, he released him and ordered the chief priests and all the Council to assemble, and he brought Paul down and placed him before them.