Professor Horner’s Reading Plan

¹Then Jesus entered and passed through Jericho.

²Now behold, there was a man named Zacchaeus who was a chief tax collector, and he was rich.

³And he sought to see who Jesus was, but could not because of the crowd, for he was of short stature.

⁴So he ran ahead and climbed up into a sycamore tree to see Him, for He was going to pass that way.

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

⁶So he made haste and came down, and received Him joyfully.

⁷But when they saw it, they all complained, saying, “He has gone to be a guest with a man who is a sinner.”

⁸Then Zacchaeus stood and said to the Lord, “Look, Lord, I give half of my goods to the poor; and if I have taken anything from anyone by false accusation, I restore fourfold.”

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

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

¹¹Now as they heard these things, He spoke another parable, because He was near Jerusalem and because they thought the kingdom of God would appear immediately.

¹²Therefore He said: “A certain nobleman went into a far country to receive for himself a kingdom and to return.

¹³So he called ten of his servants, delivered to them ten minas, and said to them, ‘Do business till I come.’

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

¹⁵“And so it was that when he returned, having received the kingdom, he then commanded these servants, to whom he had given the money, to be called to him, that he might know how much every man had gained by trading.

¹⁶Then came the first, saying, ‘Master, your mina has earned ten minas.’

¹⁷And he said to him, ‘Well done, good servant; because you were faithful in a very little, have authority over ten cities.’

¹⁸And the second came, saying, ‘Master, your mina has earned five minas.’

¹⁹Likewise he said to him, ‘You also be over five cities.’

²⁰“Then another came, saying, ‘Master, here is your mina, which I have kept put away in a handkerchief.

²¹For I feared you, because you are an austere man. You collect what you did not deposit, and reap what you did not sow.’

²²And he said to him, ‘Out of your own mouth I will judge you, you wicked servant. You knew that I was an austere man, collecting what I did not deposit and reaping what I did not sow.

²³Why then did you not put my money in the bank, that at my coming I might have collected it with interest?’

²⁴“And he said to those who stood by, ‘Take the mina from him, and give it to him who has ten minas.’

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

²⁶‘For I say to you, that to everyone who has will be given; and from him who does not have, even what he has will be taken away from him.

²⁷But bring here those enemies of mine, who did not want me to reign over them, and slay them before me.’ ”

²⁸When He had said this, He went on ahead, going up to Jerusalem.

²⁹And it came to pass, when He drew near to Bethphage and Bethany, at the mountain called Olivet, that He sent two of His disciples,

³⁰saying, “Go into the village opposite you, where as you enter you will find a colt tied, on which no one has ever sat. Loose it and bring it here.

³¹And if anyone asks you, ‘Why are you loosing it?’ thus you shall say to him, ‘Because the Lord has need of it.’ ”

³²So those who were sent went their way and found it just as He had said to them.

³³But as they were loosing the colt, the owners of it said to them, “Why are you loosing the colt?”

³⁴And they said, “The Lord has need of him.”

³⁵Then they brought him to Jesus. And they threw their own clothes on the colt, and they set Jesus on him.

³⁶And as He went, many spread their clothes on the road.

³⁷Then, as He was now drawing near the descent of the Mount of Olives, the whole multitude of the disciples began to rejoice and praise God with a loud voice for all the mighty works they had seen,

³⁸saying: “ ‘Blessed is the King who comes in the name of the LORD!’ Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!”

³⁹And some of the Pharisees called to Him from the crowd, “Teacher, rebuke Your disciples.”

⁴⁰But He answered and said to them, “I tell you that if these should keep silent, the stones would immediately cry out.”

⁴¹Now as He drew near, He saw the city and wept over it,

⁴²saying, “If you had known, even you, especially in this your day, the things that make for your peace! But now they are hidden from your eyes.

⁴³For days will come upon you when your enemies will build an embankment around you, surround you and close you in on every side,

⁴⁴and level you, and your children within you, to the ground; and they will not leave in you one stone upon another, because you did not know the time of your visitation.”

⁴⁵Then He went into the temple and began to drive out those who bought and sold in it,

⁴⁶saying to them, “It is written, ‘My house is a house of prayer,’ but you have made it a ‘den of thieves.’ ”

⁴⁷And He was teaching daily in the temple. But the chief priests, the scribes, and the leaders of the people sought to destroy Him,

⁴⁸and were unable to do anything; for all the people were very attentive to hear Him.

¹And it came to pass, after the plague, that the LORD spoke to Moses and Eleazar the son of Aaron the priest, saying:

²“Take a census of all the congregation of the children of Israel from twenty years old and above, by their fathers’ houses, all who are able to go to war in Israel.”

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

⁴“Take a census of the people from twenty years old and above, just as the LORD commanded Moses and the children of Israel who came out of the land of Egypt.”

⁵Reuben was the firstborn of Israel. The children of Reuben were: 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: those who were numbered of them were forty-three thousand seven hundred and thirty.

⁸And the son of Pallu was Eliab.

⁹The sons of Eliab were Nemuel, Dathan, and Abiram. These are the Dathan and Abiram, representatives of the congregation, who contended against Moses and Aaron in the company of Korah, when they contended against the LORD;

¹⁰and the earth opened its mouth and swallowed them up together with Korah when that company died, when the fire devoured two hundred and fifty men; and they became a sign.

¹¹Nevertheless the children of Korah did not die.

¹²The sons of Simeon according to their families were: 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 Zarhites; of Shaul, the family of the Shaulites.

¹⁴These are the families of the Simeonites: twenty-two thousand two hundred.

¹⁵The sons of Gad according to their families were: 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: forty thousand five hundred.

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

²⁰And the sons of Judah according to their families were: of Shelah, the family of the Shelanites; of Perez, the family of the Parzites; of Zerah, the family of the Zarhites.

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

²²These are the families of Judah according to those who were numbered of them: seventy-six thousand five hundred.

²³The sons of Issachar according to their families were: of Tola, the family of the Tolaites; of Puah, 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 according to those who were numbered of them: sixty-four thousand three hundred.

²⁶The sons of Zebulun according to their families were: of Sered, the family of the Sardites; of Elon, the family of the Elonites; of Jahleel, the family of the Jahleelites.

²⁷These are the families of the Zebulunites according to those who were numbered of them: sixty thousand five hundred.

²⁸The sons of Joseph according to their families, by Manasseh and Ephraim, were:

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

³⁰These are the sons of Gilead: of Jeezer, the family of the Jeezerites; of Helek, the family of the Helekites;

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

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

³³Now Zelophehad the son of Hepher had no sons, but 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 fifty-two thousand seven hundred.

³⁵These are the sons of Ephraim according to their families: of Shuthelah, the family of the Shuthalhites; of Becher, the family of the Bachrites; of Tahan, the family of the Tahanites.

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

³⁷These are the families of the sons of Ephraim according to those who were numbered of them: thirty-two thousand five hundred. These are the sons of Joseph according to their families.

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

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

⁴⁰And the 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 according to their families; and those who were numbered of them were forty-five thousand six hundred.

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

⁴³All the families of the Shuhamites, according to those who were numbered of them, were sixty-four thousand four hundred.

⁴⁴The sons of Asher according to their families were: of Jimna, the family of the Jimnites; of Jesui, the family of the Jesuites; 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 according to those who were numbered of them: fifty-three thousand four hundred.

⁴⁸The sons of Naphtali according to their families were: 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 according to their families; and those who were numbered of them were forty-five thousand four hundred.

⁵¹These are those who were numbered of the children of Israel: six hundred and one thousand seven hundred and thirty.

⁵²Then the LORD spoke to Moses, saying:

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

⁵⁴To a large tribe you shall give a larger inheritance, and to a small tribe you shall give a smaller inheritance. Each shall be given its inheritance according to those who were numbered of them.

⁵⁵But the land shall be divided by lot; they shall inherit according to the names of the tribes of their fathers.

⁵⁶According to the lot their inheritance shall be divided between the larger and the smaller.”

⁵⁷And these 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 the Levites: 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 Korathites. And Kohath begot Amram.

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

⁶⁰To Aaron were born Nadab and Abihu, Eleazar and Ithamar.

⁶¹And Nadab and Abihu died when they offered profane fire before the LORD.

⁶²Now those who were numbered of them were twenty-three thousand, every male from a month old and above; for they were not numbered among the other children of Israel, because there was no inheritance given to them among the children of Israel.

⁶³These are those who were numbered by Moses and Eleazar the priest, who numbered the children of Israel in the plains of Moab by the Jordan, across from Jericho.

⁶⁴But among these there was not a man of those who were numbered by Moses and Aaron the priest when they numbered the children of Israel in the Wilderness of Sinai.

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

¹And I, brethren, when I came to you, did not come with excellence of speech or of wisdom declaring to you the testimony of God.

²For I determined not to know anything among you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified.

³I was with you in weakness, in fear, and in much trembling.

⁴And my speech and my preaching were not with persuasive words of human wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power,

⁵that your faith should not be in the wisdom of men but in the power of God.

⁶However, we speak wisdom among those who are mature, yet not the wisdom of this age, nor of the rulers of this age, who are coming to nothing.

⁷But we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, the hidden wisdom which God ordained before the ages for our glory,

⁸which none of the rulers of this age knew; for had they known, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.

⁹But as it is written: “Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, Nor have entered into the heart of man The things which God has prepared for those who love Him.”

¹⁰But God has revealed them to us through His Spirit. For the Spirit searches all things, yes, the deep things of God.

¹¹For what man knows the things of a man except the spirit of the man which is in him? Even so no one knows the things of God except the Spirit of God.

¹²Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might know the things that have been freely given to us by God.

¹³These things we also speak, not in words which man’s wisdom teaches but which the Holy Spirit teaches, comparing spiritual things with spiritual.

¹⁴But the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; nor can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.

¹⁵But he who is spiritual judges all things, yet he himself is rightly judged by no one.

¹⁶For “who has known the mind of the LORD that he may instruct Him?” But we have the mind of Christ.

¹Then Zophar the Naamathite answered and said:

²“Therefore my anxious thoughts make me answer, Because of the turmoil within me.

³I have heard the rebuke that reproaches me, And the spirit of my understanding causes me to answer.

⁴“Do you not know this of old, Since man was placed on earth,

⁵That the triumphing of the wicked is short, And the joy of the hypocrite is but for a moment?

⁶Though his haughtiness mounts up to the heavens, And his head reaches to the clouds,

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

⁸He will fly away like a dream, and not be found; Yes, he will be chased away like a vision of the night.

⁹The eye that saw him will see him no more, Nor will his place behold him anymore.

¹⁰His children will seek the favor of the poor, And his hands will restore his wealth.

¹¹His bones are full of his youthful vigor, But it will lie down with him in the dust.

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

¹³Though he spares it and does not forsake it, But still keeps it in his mouth,

¹⁴Yet his food in his stomach turns sour; It becomes cobra venom within him.

¹⁵He swallows down riches And vomits them up again; God casts them out of his belly.

¹⁶He will suck the poison of cobras; The viper’s tongue will slay him.

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

¹⁸He will restore that for which he labored, And will not swallow it down; From the proceeds of business He will get no enjoyment.

¹⁹For he has oppressed and forsaken the poor, He has violently seized a house which he did not build.

²⁰“Because he knows no quietness in his heart, He will not save anything he desires.

²¹Nothing is left for him to eat; Therefore his well-being will not last.

²²In his self-sufficiency he will be in distress; Every hand of misery will come against him.

²³When he is about to fill his stomach, God will cast on him the fury of His wrath, And will rain it on him while he is eating.

²⁴He will flee from the iron weapon; A bronze bow will pierce him through.

²⁵It is drawn, and comes out of the body; Yes, the glittering point comes out of his gall. Terrors come upon him;

²⁶Total darkness is reserved for his treasures. An unfanned fire will consume him; It shall go ill with him who is left in his tent.

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

²⁸The increase of his house will depart, And his goods will flow away in the day of His wrath.

²⁹This is the portion from God for a wicked man, The heritage appointed to him by God.”

¹A Psalm. A Song at the dedication of the house of David. [1] I will extol You, O LORD, for You have lifted me up, And have not let my foes rejoice over me.

²O LORD my God, I cried out to You, And You healed me.

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

⁴Sing praise to the LORD, you saints of His, And give thanks at the remembrance of His holy name.

⁵For His anger is but for a moment, His favor is for life; Weeping may endure for a night, But joy comes in the morning.

⁶Now in my prosperity I said, “I shall never be moved.”

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

⁸I cried out to You, O LORD; And to the LORD I made supplication:

⁹“What profit is there in my blood, When I go down to the pit? Will the dust praise You? Will it declare Your truth?

¹⁰Hear, O LORD, and have mercy on me; LORD, be my helper!”

¹¹You have turned for me my mourning into dancing; You have put off my sackcloth and clothed me with gladness,

¹²To the end that my glory may sing praise to You and not be silent. O LORD my God, I will give thanks to You forever.

¹Wine is a mocker, Strong drink is a brawler, And whoever is led astray by it is not wise.

²The wrath of a king is like the roaring of a lion; Whoever provokes him to anger sins against his own life.

³It is honorable for a man to stop striving, Since any fool can start a quarrel.

⁴The lazy man will not plow because of winter; He will beg during harvest and have nothing.

⁵Counsel in the heart of man is like deep water, But a man of understanding will draw it out.

⁶Most men will proclaim each his own goodness, But who can find a faithful man?

⁷The righteous man walks in his integrity; His children are blessed after him.

⁸A king who sits on the throne of judgment Scatters all evil with his eyes.

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

¹⁰Diverse weights and diverse measures, They are both alike, an abomination to the LORD.

¹¹Even a child is known by his deeds, Whether what he does is pure and right.

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

¹³Do not love sleep, lest you come to poverty; Open your eyes, and you will be satisfied with bread.

¹⁴“It is good for nothing,” cries the buyer; But when he has gone his way, then he boasts.

¹⁵There is gold and a multitude of rubies, But the lips of knowledge are a precious jewel.

¹⁶Take the garment of one who is surety for a stranger, And hold it as a pledge when it is for a seductress.

¹⁷Bread gained by deceit is sweet to a man, But afterward his mouth will be filled with gravel.

¹⁸Plans are established by counsel; By wise counsel wage war.

¹⁹He who goes about as a talebearer reveals secrets; Therefore do not associate with one who flatters with his lips.

²⁰Whoever curses his father or his mother, His lamp will be put out in deep darkness.

²¹An inheritance gained hastily at the beginning Will not be blessed at the end.

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

²³Diverse weights are an abomination to the LORD, And dishonest scales are not good.

²⁴A man’s steps are of the LORD; How then can a man understand his own way?

²⁵It is a snare for a man to devote rashly something as holy, And afterward to reconsider his vows.

²⁶A wise king sifts out the wicked, And brings the threshing wheel over them.

²⁷The spirit of a man is the lamp of the LORD, Searching all the inner depths of his heart.

²⁸Mercy and truth preserve the king, And by lovingkindness he upholds his throne.

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

³⁰Blows that hurt cleanse away evil, As do stripes the inner depths of the heart.

¹Now it came to pass after the death of Saul, when David had returned from the slaughter of the Amalekites, and David had stayed two days in Ziklag,

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

³And David said to him, “Where have you come from?” So he said to him, “I have escaped from the camp of Israel.”

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

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

⁶Then the young man who told him said, “As I happened by chance to be on Mount Gilboa, there was Saul, leaning on his spear; and indeed the chariots and horsemen followed hard after him.

⁷Now when he looked behind him, he saw me and called to me. And I answered, ‘Here I am.’

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

⁹He said to me again, ‘Please stand over me and kill me, for anguish has come upon me, but my life still remains in me.’

¹⁰So I stood over him and killed him, because I was sure that he could not live after he had fallen. And I took the crown that was on his head and the bracelet that was on his arm, and have brought them here to my lord.”

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

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

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

¹⁴So David said to him, “How was it you were not afraid to put forth your hand to destroy the LORD’s anointed?”

¹⁵Then David called one of the young men and said, “Go near, and execute him!” And he struck him so that he died.

¹⁶So David said to him, “Your blood is on your own head, for your own mouth has testified against you, saying, ‘I have killed the LORD’s anointed.’ ”

¹⁷Then David lamented with this lamentation over Saul and over Jonathan his son,

¹⁸and he told them to teach the children of Judah the Song of the Bow; indeed it is written in the Book of Jasher:

¹⁹“The beauty of Israel is slain on your high places! How the mighty have fallen!

²⁰Tell it not in Gath, Proclaim it not in the streets of Ashkelon— Lest the daughters of the Philistines rejoice, Lest the daughters of the uncircumcised triumph.

²¹“O mountains of Gilboa, Let there be no dew nor rain upon you, Nor fields of offerings. For the shield of the mighty is cast away there! The shield of Saul, not anointed with oil.

²²From the blood of the slain, From the fat of the mighty, The bow of Jonathan did not turn back, And the sword of Saul did not return empty.

²³“Saul and Jonathan were beloved and pleasant in their lives, And in their death they were not divided; They were swifter than eagles, They were stronger than lions.

²⁴“O daughters of Israel, weep over Saul, Who clothed you in scarlet, with luxury; Who put ornaments of gold on your apparel.

²⁵“How the mighty have fallen in the midst of the battle! Jonathan was slain in your high places.

²⁶I am distressed for you, my brother Jonathan; You have been very pleasant to me; Your love to me was wonderful, Surpassing the love of women.

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

¹The word of the LORD that came to Jeremiah concerning the droughts.

²“Judah mourns, And her gates languish; They mourn for the land, And the cry of Jerusalem has gone up.

³Their nobles have sent their lads for water; They went to the cisterns and found no water. They returned with their vessels empty; They were ashamed and confounded And covered their heads.

⁴Because the ground is parched, For there was no rain in the land, The plowmen were ashamed; They covered their heads.

⁵Yes, the deer also gave birth in the field, But left because there was no grass.

⁶And the wild donkeys stood in the desolate heights; They sniffed at the wind like jackals; Their eyes failed because there was no grass.”

⁷O LORD, though our iniquities testify against us, Do it for Your name’s sake; For our backslidings are many, We have sinned against You.

⁸O the Hope of Israel, his Savior in time of trouble, Why should You be like a stranger in the land, And like a traveler who turns aside to tarry for a night?

⁹Why should You be like a man astonished, Like a mighty one who cannot save? Yet You, O LORD, are in our midst, And we are called by Your name; Do not leave us!

¹⁰Thus says the LORD to this people: “Thus they have loved to wander; They have not restrained their feet. Therefore the LORD does not accept them; He will remember their iniquity now, And punish their sins.”

¹¹Then the LORD said to me, “Do not pray for this people, for their good.

¹²When they fast, I will not hear their cry; and when they offer burnt offering and grain offering, I will not accept them. But I will consume them by the sword, by the famine, and by the pestilence.”

¹³Then I said, “Ah, Lord GOD! Behold, the prophets say to them, ‘You shall not see the sword, nor shall you have famine, but I will give you assured peace in this place.’ ”

¹⁴And the LORD said to me, “The prophets prophesy lies in My name. I have not sent them, commanded them, nor spoken to them; they prophesy to you a false vision, divination, a worthless thing, and the deceit of their heart.

¹⁵Therefore thus says the LORD concerning the prophets who prophesy in My name, whom I did not send, and who say, ‘Sword and famine shall not be in this land’—‘By sword and famine those prophets shall be consumed!

¹⁶And the people to whom they prophesy shall be cast out in the streets of Jerusalem because of the famine and the sword; they will have no one to bury them—them nor their wives, their sons nor their daughters—for I will pour their wickedness on them.’

¹⁷“Therefore you shall say this word to them: ‘Let my eyes flow with tears night and day, And let them not cease; For the virgin daughter of my people Has been broken with a mighty stroke, with a very severe blow.

¹⁸If I go out to the field, Then behold, those slain with the sword! And if I enter the city, Then behold, those sick from famine! Yes, both prophet and priest go about in a land they do not know.’ ”

¹⁹Have You utterly rejected Judah? Has Your soul loathed Zion? Why have You stricken us so that there is no healing for us? We looked for peace, but there was no good; And for the time of healing, and there was trouble.

²⁰We acknowledge, O LORD, our wickedness And the iniquity of our fathers, For we have sinned against You.

²¹Do not abhor us, for Your name’s sake; Do not disgrace the throne of Your glory. Remember, do not break Your covenant with us.

²²Are there any among the idols of the nations that can cause rain? Or can the heavens give showers? Are You not He, O LORD our God? Therefore we will wait for You, Since You have made all these.

¹“Brethren and fathers, hear my defense before you now.”

²And when they heard that he spoke to them in the Hebrew language, they kept all the more silent. Then he said:

³“I am indeed a Jew, born in Tarsus of Cilicia, but brought up in this city at the feet of Gamaliel, taught according to the strictness of our fathers’ law, and was zealous toward God as you all are today.

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

⁵as also the high priest bears me witness, and all the council of the elders, from whom I also received letters to the brethren, and went to Damascus to bring in chains even those who were there to Jerusalem to be punished.

⁶“Now it happened, as I journeyed and came near Damascus at about noon, suddenly a great light from heaven shone around me.

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

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

⁹“And those who were with me indeed saw the light and were afraid, but they did not hear the voice of Him who spoke to me.

¹⁰So I said, ‘What shall I do, Lord?’ And the Lord said to me, ‘Arise and go into Damascus, and there you will be told all things which are appointed for you to do.’

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

¹²“Then a certain Ananias, a devout man according to the law, having a good testimony with all the Jews who dwelt there,

¹³came to me; and he stood and said to me, ‘Brother Saul, receive your sight.’ And at that same hour I looked up at him.

¹⁴Then he said, ‘The God of our fathers has chosen you that you should know His will, and see the Just One, and hear the voice of His mouth.

¹⁵For you will be His witness to all men of what you have seen and heard.

¹⁶And now why are you waiting? Arise and be baptized, and wash away your sins, calling on the name of the Lord.’

¹⁷“Now it happened, when I returned to Jerusalem and was praying in the temple, that I was in a trance

¹⁸and saw Him saying to me, ‘Make haste and get out of Jerusalem quickly, for they will not receive your testimony concerning Me.’

¹⁹So I said, ‘Lord, they know that in every synagogue I imprisoned and beat those who believe on You.

²⁰And when the blood of Your martyr Stephen was shed, I also was standing by consenting to his death, and guarding the clothes of those who were killing him.’

²¹Then He said to me, ‘Depart, for I will send you far from here to the Gentiles.’ ”

²²And they listened to him until this word, and then they raised their voices and said, “Away with such a fellow from the earth, for he is not fit to live!”

²³Then, as they cried out and tore off their clothes and threw dust into the air,

²⁴the commander ordered him to be brought into the barracks, and said that he should be examined under scourging, so that he might know why they shouted so against him.

²⁵And as they bound him with thongs, Paul said to the centurion who stood by, “Is it lawful for you to scourge a man who is a Roman, and uncondemned?”

²⁶When the centurion heard that, he went and told the commander, saying, “Take care what you do, for this man is a Roman.”

²⁷Then the commander came and said to him, “Tell me, are you a Roman?” He said, “Yes.”

²⁸The commander answered, “With a large sum I obtained this citizenship.” And Paul said, “But I was born a citizen.”

²⁹Then immediately those who were about to examine him withdrew from him; and the commander was also afraid after he found out that he was a Roman, and because he had bound him.

³⁰The next day, because he wanted to know for certain why he was accused by the Jews, he released him from his bonds, and commanded the chief priests and all their council to appear, and brought Paul down and set him before them.