Professor Horner’s Reading Plan

¹Jesus entered Jericho and was passing through.

²A man was there by the name of Zacchaeus; he was a chief tax collector and was wealthy.

³He wanted to see who Jesus was, but because he was short he could not see over the crowd.

⁴So he ran ahead and climbed a sycamore-fig tree to see him, since Jesus was coming that way.

⁵When Jesus reached the spot, he looked up and said to him, “Zacchaeus, come down immediately. I must stay at your house today.”

⁶So he came down at once and welcomed him gladly.

⁷All the people saw this and began to mutter, “He has gone to be the guest of a sinner.”

⁸But Zacchaeus stood up and said to the Lord, “Look, Lord! Here and now I give half of my possessions to the poor, and if I have cheated anybody out of anything, I will pay back four times the amount.”

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

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

¹¹While they were listening to this, he went on to tell them a parable, because he was near Jerusalem and the people thought that the kingdom of God was going to appear at once.

¹²He said: “A man of noble birth went to a distant country to have himself appointed king and then to return.

¹³So he called ten of his servants and gave them ten minas. ‘Put this money to work,’ he said, ‘until I come back.’

¹⁴“But his subjects hated him and sent a delegation after him to say, ‘We don’t want this man to be our king.’

¹⁵“He was made king, however, and returned home. Then he sent for the servants to whom he had given the money, in order to find out what they had gained with it.

¹⁶“The first one came and said, ‘Sir, your mina has earned ten more.’

¹⁷“ ‘Well done, my good servant!’ his master replied. ‘Because you have been trustworthy in a very small matter, take charge of ten cities.’

¹⁸“The second came and said, ‘Sir, your mina has earned five more.’

¹⁹“His master answered, ‘You take charge of five cities.’

²⁰“Then another servant came and said, ‘Sir, here is your mina; I have kept it laid away in a piece of cloth.

²¹I was afraid of you, because you are a hard man. You take out what you did not put in and reap what you did not sow.’

²²“His master replied, ‘I will judge you by your own words, you wicked servant! You knew, did you, that I am a hard man, taking out what I did not put in, and reaping what I did not sow?

²³Why then didn’t you put my money on deposit, so that when I came back, I could have collected it with interest?’

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

²⁵“ ‘Sir,’ they said, ‘he already has ten!’

²⁶“He replied, ‘I tell you that to everyone who has, more will be given, but as for the one who has nothing, even what they have will be taken away.

²⁷But those enemies of mine who did not want me to be king over them—bring them here and kill them in front of me.’ ”

²⁸After Jesus had said this, he went on ahead, going up to Jerusalem.

²⁹As he approached Bethphage and Bethany at the hill called the Mount of Olives, he sent two of his disciples, saying to them,

³⁰“Go to the village ahead of you, and as you enter it, you will find a colt tied there, which no one has ever ridden. Untie it and bring it here.

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

³²Those who were sent ahead went and found it just as he had told them.

³³As they were untying the colt, its owners asked them, “Why are you untying the colt?”

³⁴They replied, “The Lord needs it.”

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

³⁶As he went along, people spread their cloaks on the road.

³⁷When he came near the place where the road goes down the Mount of Olives, the whole crowd of disciples began joyfully to praise God in loud voices for all the miracles they had seen:

³⁸“Blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord!” “Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!”

³⁹Some of the Pharisees in the crowd said to Jesus, “Teacher, rebuke your disciples!”

⁴⁰“I tell you,” he replied, “if they keep quiet, the stones will cry out.”

⁴¹As he approached Jerusalem and saw the city, he wept over it

⁴²and said, “If you, even you, had only known on this day what would bring you peace—but now it is hidden from your eyes.

⁴³The days will come upon you when your enemies will build an embankment against you and encircle you and hem you in on every side.

⁴⁴They will dash you to the ground, you and the children within your walls. They will not leave one stone on another, because you did not recognize the time of God’s coming to you.”

⁴⁵When Jesus entered the temple courts, he began to drive out those who were selling.

⁴⁶“It is written,” he said to them, “ ‘My house will be a house of prayer’; but you have made it ‘a den of robbers.’”

⁴⁷Every day he was teaching at the temple. But the chief priests, the teachers of the law and the leaders among the people were trying to kill him.

⁴⁸Yet they could not find any way to do it, because all the people hung on his words.

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

²“Take a census of the whole Israelite community by families—all those twenty years old or more who are able to serve in the army of Israel.”

³So on the plains of Moab by the Jordan across from Jericho, Moses and Eleazar the priest spoke with them and said,

⁴“Take a census of the men twenty years old or more, as the LORD commanded Moses.” These were the Israelites who came out of Egypt:

⁵The descendants of Reuben, the firstborn son of Israel, were: through Hanok, the Hanokite clan; through Pallu, the Palluite clan;

⁶through Hezron, the Hezronite clan; through Karmi, the Karmite clan.

⁷These were the clans of Reuben; those numbered were 43,730.

⁸The son of Pallu was Eliab,

⁹and the sons of Eliab were Nemuel, Dathan and Abiram. The same Dathan and Abiram were the community officials who rebelled against Moses and Aaron and were among Korah’s followers when they rebelled against the LORD.

¹⁰The earth opened its mouth and swallowed them along with Korah, whose followers died when the fire devoured the 250 men. And they served as a warning sign.

¹¹The line of Korah, however, did not die out.

¹²The descendants of Simeon by their clans were: through Nemuel, the Nemuelite clan; through Jamin, the Jaminite clan; through Jakin, the Jakinite clan;

¹³through Zerah, the Zerahite clan; through Shaul, the Shaulite clan.

¹⁴These were the clans of Simeon; those numbered were 22,200.

¹⁵The descendants of Gad by their clans were: through Zephon, the Zephonite clan; through Haggi, the Haggite clan; through Shuni, the Shunite clan;

¹⁶through Ozni, the Oznite clan; through Eri, the Erite clan;

¹⁷through Arodi, the Arodite clan; through Areli, the Arelite clan.

¹⁸These were the clans of Gad; those numbered were 40,500.

¹⁹Er and Onan were sons of Judah, but they died in Canaan.

²⁰The descendants of Judah by their clans were: through Shelah, the Shelanite clan; through Perez, the Perezite clan; through Zerah, the Zerahite clan.

²¹The descendants of Perez were: through Hezron, the Hezronite clan; through Hamul, the Hamulite clan.

²²These were the clans of Judah; those numbered were 76,500.

²³The descendants of Issachar by their clans were: through Tola, the Tolaite clan; through Puah, the Puite clan;

²⁴through Jashub, the Jashubite clan; through Shimron, the Shimronite clan.

²⁵These were the clans of Issachar; those numbered were 64,300.

²⁶The descendants of Zebulun by their clans were: through Sered, the Seredite clan; through Elon, the Elonite clan; through Jahleel, the Jahleelite clan.

²⁷These were the clans of Zebulun; those numbered were 60,500.

²⁸The descendants of Joseph by their clans through Manasseh and Ephraim were:

²⁹The descendants of Manasseh: through Makir, the Makirite clan (Makir was the father of Gilead); through Gilead, the Gileadite clan.

³⁰These were the descendants of Gilead: through Iezer, the Iezerite clan; through Helek, the Helekite clan;

³¹through Asriel, the Asrielite clan; through Shechem, the Shechemite clan;

³²through Shemida, the Shemidaite clan; through Hepher, the Hepherite clan.

³³(Zelophehad son of Hepher had no sons; he had only daughters, whose names were Mahlah, Noah, Hoglah, Milkah and Tirzah.)

³⁴These were the clans of Manasseh; those numbered were 52,700.

³⁵These were the descendants of Ephraim by their clans: through Shuthelah, the Shuthelahite clan; through Beker, the Bekerite clan; through Tahan, the Tahanite clan.

³⁶These were the descendants of Shuthelah: through Eran, the Eranite clan.

³⁷These were the clans of Ephraim; those numbered were 32,500. These were the descendants of Joseph by their clans.

³⁸The descendants of Benjamin by their clans were: through Bela, the Belaite clan; through Ashbel, the Ashbelite clan; through Ahiram, the Ahiramite clan;

³⁹through Shupham, the Shuphamite clan; through Hupham, the Huphamite clan.

⁴⁰The descendants of Bela through Ard and Naaman were: through Ard, the Ardite clan; through Naaman, the Naamite clan.

⁴¹These were the clans of Benjamin; those numbered were 45,600.

⁴²These were the descendants of Dan by their clans: through Shuham, the Shuhamite clan. These were the clans of Dan:

⁴³All of them were Shuhamite clans; and those numbered were 64,400.

⁴⁴The descendants of Asher by their clans were: through Imnah, the Imnite clan; through Ishvi, the Ishvite clan; through Beriah, the Beriite clan;

⁴⁵and through the descendants of Beriah: through Heber, the Heberite clan; through Malkiel, the Malkielite clan.

⁴⁶(Asher had a daughter named Serah.)

⁴⁷These were the clans of Asher; those numbered were 53,400.

⁴⁸The descendants of Naphtali by their clans were: through Jahzeel, the Jahzeelite clan; through Guni, the Gunite clan;

⁴⁹through Jezer, the Jezerite clan; through Shillem, the Shillemite clan.

⁵⁰These were the clans of Naphtali; those numbered were 45,400.

⁵¹The total number of the men of Israel was 601,730.

⁵²The LORD said to Moses,

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

⁵⁴To a larger group give a larger inheritance, and to a smaller group a smaller one; each is to receive its inheritance according to the number of those listed.

⁵⁵Be sure that the land is distributed by lot. What each group inherits will be according to the names for its ancestral tribe.

⁵⁶Each inheritance is to be distributed by lot among the larger and smaller groups.”

⁵⁷These were the Levites who were counted by their clans: through Gershon, the Gershonite clan; through Kohath, the Kohathite clan; through Merari, the Merarite clan.

⁵⁸These also were Levite clans: the Libnite clan, the Hebronite clan, the Mahlite clan, the Mushite clan, the Korahite clan. (Kohath was the forefather of Amram;

⁵⁹the name of Amram’s wife was Jochebed, a descendant of Levi, who was born to the Levites in Egypt. To Amram she bore Aaron, Moses and their sister Miriam.

⁶⁰Aaron was the father of Nadab and Abihu, Eleazar and Ithamar.

⁶¹But Nadab and Abihu died when they made an offering before the LORD with unauthorized fire.)

⁶²All the male Levites a month old or more numbered 23,000. They were not counted along with the other Israelites because they received no inheritance among them.

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

⁶⁴Not one of them was among those counted by Moses and Aaron the priest when they counted the Israelites in the Desert of Sinai.

⁶⁵For the LORD had told those Israelites they would surely die in the wilderness, and not one of them was left except Caleb son of Jephunneh and Joshua son of Nun.

¹And so it was with me, brothers and sisters. When I came to you, I did not come with eloquence or human wisdom as I proclaimed to you the testimony about God.

²For I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and him crucified.

³I came to you in weakness with great fear and trembling.

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

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

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

⁷No, we declare God’s wisdom, a mystery that has been hidden and that God destined for our glory before time began.

⁸None of the rulers of this age understood it, for if they had, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.

⁹However, as it is written: “What no eye has seen, what no ear has heard, and what no human mind has conceived”— the things God has prepared for those who love him—

¹⁰these are the things God has revealed to us by his Spirit. The Spirit searches all things, even the deep things of God.

¹¹For who knows a person’s thoughts except their own spirit within them? In the same way no one knows the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God.

¹²What we have received is not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, so that we may understand what God has freely given us.

¹³This is what we speak, not in words taught us by human wisdom but in words taught by the Spirit, explaining spiritual realities with Spirit-taught words.

¹⁴The person without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God but considers them foolishness, and cannot understand them because they are discerned only through the Spirit.

¹⁵The person with the Spirit makes judgments about all things, but such a person is not subject to merely human judgments,

¹⁶for, “Who has known the mind of the Lord so as to instruct him?” But we have the mind of Christ.

¹Then Zophar the Naamathite replied:

²“My troubled thoughts prompt me to answer because I am greatly disturbed.

³I hear a rebuke that dishonors me, and my understanding inspires me to reply.

⁴“Surely you know how it has been from of old, ever since mankind was placed on the earth,

⁵that the mirth of the wicked is brief, the joy of the godless lasts but a moment.

⁶Though the pride of the godless person reaches to the heavens and his head touches the clouds,

⁷he will perish forever, like his own dung; those who have seen him will say, ‘Where is he?’

⁸Like a dream he flies away, no more to be found, banished like a vision of the night.

⁹The eye that saw him will not see him again; his place will look on him no more.

¹⁰His children must make amends to the poor; his own hands must give back his wealth.

¹¹The youthful vigor that fills his bones will lie with him in the dust.

¹²“Though evil is sweet in his mouth and he hides it under his tongue,

¹³though he cannot bear to let it go and lets it linger in his mouth,

¹⁴yet his food will turn sour in his stomach; it will become the venom of serpents within him.

¹⁵He will spit out the riches he swallowed; God will make his stomach vomit them up.

¹⁶He will suck the poison of serpents; the fangs of an adder will kill him.

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

¹⁸What he toiled for he must give back uneaten; he will not enjoy the profit from his trading.

¹⁹For he has oppressed the poor and left them destitute; he has seized houses he did not build.

²⁰“Surely he will have no respite from his craving; he cannot save himself by his treasure.

²¹Nothing is left for him to devour; his prosperity will not endure.

²²In the midst of his plenty, distress will overtake him; the full force of misery will come upon him.

²³When he has filled his belly, God will vent his burning anger against him and rain down his blows on him.

²⁴Though he flees from an iron weapon, a bronze-tipped arrow pierces him.

²⁵He pulls it out of his back, the gleaming point out of his liver. Terrors will come over him;

²⁶total darkness lies in wait for his treasures. A fire unfanned will consume him and devour what is left in his tent.

²⁷The heavens will expose his guilt; the earth will rise up against him.

²⁸A flood will carry off his house, rushing waters on the day of God’s wrath.

²⁹Such is the fate God allots the wicked, the heritage appointed for them by God.”

¹A psalm. A song. For the dedication of the temple. Of David. I will exalt you, LORD, for you lifted me out of the depths and did not let my enemies gloat over me.

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

³You, LORD, brought me up from the realm of the dead; you spared me from going down to the pit.

⁴Sing the praises of the LORD, you his faithful people; praise his holy name.

⁵For his anger lasts only a moment, but his favor lasts a lifetime; weeping may stay for the night, but rejoicing comes in the morning.

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

⁷LORD, when you favored me, you made my royal mountain stand firm; but when you hid your face, I was dismayed.

⁸To you, LORD, I called; to the Lord I cried for mercy:

⁹“What is gained if I am silenced, if I go down to the pit? Will the dust praise you? Will it proclaim your faithfulness?

¹⁰Hear, LORD, and be merciful to me; LORD, be my help.”

¹¹You turned my wailing into dancing; you removed my sackcloth and clothed me with joy,

¹²that my heart may sing your praises and not be silent. LORD my God, I will praise you forever.

¹Wine is a mocker and beer a brawler; whoever is led astray by them is not wise.

²A king’s wrath strikes terror like the roar of a lion; those who anger him forfeit their lives.

³It is to one’s honor to avoid strife, but every fool is quick to quarrel.

⁴Sluggards do not plow in season; so at harvest time they look but find nothing.

⁵The purposes of a person’s heart are deep waters, but one who has insight draws them out.

⁶Many claim to have unfailing love, but a faithful person who can find?

⁷The righteous lead blameless lives; blessed are their children after them.

⁸When a king sits on his throne to judge, he winnows out all evil with his eyes.

⁹Who can say, “I have kept my heart pure; I am clean and without sin”?

¹⁰Differing weights and differing measures— the LORD detests them both.

¹¹Even small children are known by their actions, so is their conduct really pure and upright?

¹²Ears that hear and eyes that see— the LORD has made them both.

¹³Do not love sleep or you will grow poor; stay awake and you will have food to spare.

¹⁴“It’s no good, it’s no good!” says the buyer— then goes off and boasts about the purchase.

¹⁵Gold there is, and rubies in abundance, but lips that speak knowledge are a rare jewel.

¹⁶Take the garment of one who puts up security for a stranger; hold it in pledge if it is done for an outsider.

¹⁷Food gained by fraud tastes sweet, but one ends up with a mouth full of gravel.

¹⁸Plans are established by seeking advice; so if you wage war, obtain guidance.

¹⁹A gossip betrays a confidence; so avoid anyone who talks too much.

²⁰If someone curses their father or mother, their lamp will be snuffed out in pitch darkness.

²¹An inheritance claimed too soon will not be blessed at the end.

²²Do not say, “I’ll pay you back for this wrong!” Wait for the LORD, and he will avenge you.

²³The LORD detests differing weights, and dishonest scales do not please him.

²⁴A person’s steps are directed by the LORD. How then can anyone understand their own way?

²⁵It is a trap to dedicate something rashly and only later to consider one’s vows.

²⁶A wise king winnows out the wicked; he drives the threshing wheel over them.

²⁷The human spirit is the lamp of the LORD that sheds light on one’s inmost being.

²⁸Love and faithfulness keep a king safe; through love his throne is made secure.

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

³⁰Blows and wounds scrub away evil, and beatings purge the inmost being.

¹After the death of Saul, David returned from striking down the Amalekites and stayed in Ziklag two days.

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

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

⁴“What happened?” David asked. “Tell me.” “The men fled from the battle,” he replied. “Many of them fell and died. And Saul and his son Jonathan are dead.”

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

⁶“I happened to be on Mount Gilboa,” the young man said, “and there was Saul, leaning on his spear, with the chariots and their drivers in hot pursuit.

⁷When he turned around and saw me, he called out to me, and I said, ‘What can I do?’

⁸“He asked me, ‘Who are you?’ “ ‘An Amalekite,’ I answered.

⁹“Then he said to me, ‘Stand here by me and kill me! I’m in the throes of death, but I’m still alive.’

¹⁰“So I stood beside him and killed him, because I knew that after he had fallen he could not survive. And I took the crown that was on his head and the band on his arm and have brought them here to my lord.”

¹¹Then David and all the men with him took hold of their clothes and tore them.

¹²They mourned and wept and fasted till evening for Saul and his son Jonathan, and for the army of the LORD and for the nation of Israel, because they had fallen by the sword.

¹³David said to the young man who brought him the report, “Where are you from?” “I am the son of a foreigner, an Amalekite,” he answered.

¹⁴David asked him, “Why weren’t you afraid to lift your hand to destroy the LORD’s anointed?”

¹⁵Then David called one of his men and said, “Go, strike him down!” So he struck him down, and he died.

¹⁶For David had said to him, “Your blood be on your own head. Your own mouth testified against you when you said, ‘I killed the LORD’s anointed.’ ”

¹⁷David took up this lament concerning Saul and his son Jonathan,

¹⁸and he ordered that the people of Judah be taught this lament of the bow (it is written in the Book of Jashar):

¹⁹“A gazelle lies slain on your heights, Israel. How the mighty have fallen!

²⁰“Tell it not in Gath, proclaim it not in the streets of Ashkelon, lest the daughters of the Philistines be glad, lest the daughters of the uncircumcised rejoice.

²¹“Mountains of Gilboa, may you have neither dew nor rain, may no showers fall on your terraced fields. For there the shield of the mighty was despised, the shield of Saul—no longer rubbed with oil.

²²“From the blood of the slain, from the flesh of the mighty, the bow of Jonathan did not turn back, the sword of Saul did not return unsatisfied.

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

²⁴“Daughters of Israel, weep for Saul, who clothed you in scarlet and finery, who adorned your garments with ornaments of gold.

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

²⁶I grieve for you, Jonathan my brother; you were very dear to me. Your love for me was wonderful, more wonderful than that of women.

²⁷“How the mighty have fallen! The weapons of war have perished!”

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

²“Judah mourns, her cities languish; they wail for the land, and a cry goes up from Jerusalem.

³The nobles send their servants for water; they go to the cisterns but find no water. They return with their jars unfilled; dismayed and despairing, they cover their heads.

⁴The ground is cracked because there is no rain in the land; the farmers are dismayed and cover their heads.

⁵Even the doe in the field deserts her newborn fawn because there is no grass.

⁶Wild donkeys stand on the barren heights and pant like jackals; their eyes fail for lack of food.”

⁷Although our sins testify against us, do something, LORD, for the sake of your name. For we have often rebelled; we have sinned against you.

⁸You who are the hope of Israel, its Savior in times of distress, why are you like a stranger in the land, like a traveler who stays only a night?

⁹Why are you like a man taken by surprise, like a warrior powerless to save? You are among us, LORD, and we bear your name; do not forsake us!

¹⁰This is what the LORD says about this people: “They greatly love to wander; they do not restrain their feet. So the LORD does not accept them; he will now remember their wickedness and punish them for their sins.”

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

¹²Although they fast, I will not listen to their cry; though they offer burnt offerings and grain offerings, I will not accept them. Instead, I will destroy them with the sword, famine and plague.”

¹³But I said, “Alas, Sovereign LORD! The prophets keep telling them, ‘You will not see the sword or suffer famine. Indeed, I will give you lasting peace in this place.’ ”

¹⁴Then the LORD said to me, “The prophets are prophesying lies in my name. I have not sent them or appointed them or spoken to them. They are prophesying to you false visions, divinations, idolatries and the delusions of their own minds.

¹⁵Therefore this is what the LORD says about the prophets who are prophesying in my name: I did not send them, yet they are saying, ‘No sword or famine will touch this land.’ Those same prophets will perish by sword and famine.

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

¹⁷“Speak this word to them: “ ‘Let my eyes overflow with tears night and day without ceasing; for the Virgin Daughter, my people, has suffered a grievous wound, a crushing blow.

¹⁸If I go into the country, I see those slain by the sword; if I go into the city, I see the ravages of famine. Both prophet and priest have gone to a land they know not.’ ”

¹⁹Have you rejected Judah completely? Do you despise Zion? Why have you afflicted us so that we cannot be healed? We hoped for peace but no good has come, for a time of healing but there is only terror.

²⁰We acknowledge our wickedness, LORD, and the guilt of our ancestors; we have indeed sinned against you.

²¹For the sake of your name do not despise us; do not dishonor your glorious throne. Remember your covenant with us and do not break it.

²²Do any of the worthless idols of the nations bring rain? Do the skies themselves send down showers? No, it is you, LORD our God. Therefore our hope is in you, for you are the one who does all this.

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

²When they heard him speak to them in Aramaic, they became very quiet. Then Paul said:

³“I am a Jew, born in Tarsus of Cilicia, but brought up in this city. I studied under Gamaliel and was thoroughly trained in the law of our ancestors. I was just as zealous for God as any of you are today.

⁴I persecuted the followers of this Way to their death, arresting both men and women and throwing them into prison,

⁵as the high priest and all the Council can themselves testify. I even obtained letters from them to their associates in Damascus, and went there to bring these people as prisoners to Jerusalem to be punished.

⁶“About noon as I came near Damascus, suddenly a bright light from heaven flashed around me.

⁷I fell to the ground and heard a voice say to me, ‘Saul! Saul! Why do you persecute me?’

⁸“ ‘Who are you, Lord?’ I asked. “ ‘I am Jesus of Nazareth, whom you are persecuting,’ he replied.

⁹My companions saw the light, but they did not understand the voice of him who was speaking to me.

¹⁰“ ‘What shall I do, Lord?’ I asked. “ ‘Get up,’ the Lord said, ‘and go into Damascus. There you will be told all that you have been assigned to do.’

¹¹My companions led me by the hand into Damascus, because the brilliance of the light had blinded me.

¹²“A man named Ananias came to see me. He was a devout observer of the law and highly respected by all the Jews living there.

¹³He stood beside me and said, ‘Brother Saul, receive your sight!’ And at that very moment I was able to see him.

¹⁴“Then he said: ‘The God of our ancestors has chosen you to know his will and to see the Righteous One and to hear words from his mouth.

¹⁵You will be his witness to all people of what you have seen and heard.

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

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

¹⁸and saw the Lord speaking to me. ‘Quick!’ he said. ‘Leave Jerusalem immediately, because the people here will not accept your testimony about me.’

¹⁹“ ‘Lord,’ I replied, ‘these people know that I went from one synagogue to another to imprison and beat those who believe in you.

²⁰And when the blood of your martyr Stephen was shed, I stood there giving my approval and guarding the clothes of those who were killing him.’

²¹“Then the Lord said to me, ‘Go; I will send you far away to the Gentiles.’ ”

²²The crowd listened to Paul until he said this. Then they raised their voices and shouted, “Rid the earth of him! He’s not fit to live!”

²³As they were shouting and throwing off their cloaks and flinging dust into the air,

²⁴the commander ordered that Paul be taken into the barracks. He directed that he be flogged and interrogated in order to find out why the people were shouting at him like this.

²⁵As they stretched him out to flog him, Paul said to the centurion standing there, “Is it legal for you to flog a Roman citizen who hasn’t even been found guilty?”

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

²⁷The commander went to Paul and asked, “Tell me, are you a Roman citizen?” “Yes, I am,” he answered.

²⁸Then the commander said, “I had to pay a lot of money for my citizenship.” “But I was born a citizen,” Paul replied.

²⁹Those who were about to interrogate him withdrew immediately. The commander himself was alarmed when he realized that he had put Paul, a Roman citizen, in chains.

³⁰The commander wanted to find out exactly why Paul was being accused by the Jews. So the next day he released him and ordered the chief priests and all the members of the Sanhedrin to assemble. Then he brought Paul and had him stand before them.