Professor Horner’s Reading Plan

¹In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

²He was in the beginning with God.

³All things came into being through Him, and apart from Him not even one thing came into being that has come into being.

⁴In Him was life, and the life was the Light of mankind.

⁵And the Light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not grasp it.

⁶A man came, one sent from God, and his name was John.

⁷He came as a witness, to testify about the Light, so that all might believe through him.

⁸He was not the Light, but he came to testify about the Light.

⁹This was the true Light that, coming into the world, enlightens every person.

¹⁰He was in the world, and the world came into being through Him, and yet the world did not know Him.

¹¹He came to His own, and His own people did not accept Him.

¹²But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name,

¹³who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of a man, but of God.

¹⁴And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us; and we saw His glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.

¹⁵John *testified about Him and called out, saying, “This was He of whom I said, ‘He who is coming after me has proved to be my superior, because He existed before me.’ ”

¹⁶For of His fullness we have all received, and grace upon grace.

¹⁷For the Law was given through Moses; grace and truth were realized through Jesus Christ.

¹⁸No one has seen God at any time; God the only Son, who is in the arms of the Father, He has explained Him.

¹⁹This is the testimony of John, when the Jews sent priests and Levites to him from Jerusalem to ask him, “Who are you?”

²⁰And he confessed and did not deny; and this is what he confessed: “I am not the Christ.”

²¹And so they asked him, “What then? Are you Elijah?” And he *said, “I am not.” “Are you the Prophet?” And he answered, “No.”

²²Then they said to him, “Who are you? Tell us, so that we may give an answer to those who sent us. What do you say about yourself?”

²³He said, “I am THE VOICE OF ONE CALLING OUT IN THE WILDERNESS, ‘MAKE THE WAY OF THE LORD STRAIGHT,’ as Isaiah the prophet said.”

²⁴And the messengers had been sent from the Pharisees.

²⁵They asked him, and said to him, “Why then are you baptizing, if you are not the Christ, nor Elijah, nor the Prophet?”

²⁶John answered them, saying, “I baptize in water, but among you stands One whom you do not know.

²⁷It is He who comes after me, of whom I am not worthy even to untie the strap of His sandal.”

²⁸These things took place in Bethany beyond the Jordan, where John was baptizing people.

²⁹The next day he *saw Jesus coming to him, and *said, “Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!

³⁰This is He in behalf of whom I said, ‘After me is coming a Man who has proved to be my superior, because He existed before me.’

³¹And I did not recognize Him, but so that He would be revealed to Israel, I came baptizing in water.”

³²And John testified, saying, “I have seen the Spirit descending as a dove out of heaven, and He remained upon Him.

³³And I did not recognize Him, but He who sent me to baptize in water said to me, ‘He upon whom you see the Spirit descending and remaining upon Him, this is the One who baptizes in the Holy Spirit.’

³⁴And I myself have seen, and have testified that this is the Son of God.”

³⁵Again the next day John was standing with two of his disciples,

³⁶and he looked at Jesus as He walked, and *said, “Behold, the Lamb of God!”

³⁷And the two disciples heard him speak, and they followed Jesus.

³⁸And Jesus turned and saw them following, and *said to them, “What are you seeking?” They said to Him, “Rabbi (which translated means Teacher), where are You staying?”

³⁹He *said to them, “Come, and you will see.” So they came and saw where He was staying, and they stayed with Him that day; it was about the tenth hour.

⁴⁰One of the two who heard John speak, and followed Him, was Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother.

⁴¹He first *found his own brother Simon and *said to him, “We have found the Messiah” (which translated means Christ).

⁴²He brought him to Jesus. Jesus looked at him and said, “You are Simon the son ofJohn; you shall be called Cephas” (which is translated Peter).

⁴³The next day He decided to go to Galilee, and He *found Philip. And Jesus *said to him, “Follow Me.”

⁴⁴Now Philip was from Bethsaida, the city of Andrew and Peter.

⁴⁵Philip *found Nathanael and *said to him, “We have found Him of whom Moses wrote in the Law, and the prophets also wrote: Jesus the son of Joseph, from Nazareth!”

⁴⁶Nathanael said to him, “Can anything good be from Nazareth?” Philip *said to him, “Come and see.”

⁴⁷Jesus saw Nathanael coming to Him, and *said of him, “Here is truly an Israelite, in whom there is no deceit!”

⁴⁸Nathanael *said to Him, “How do You know me?” Jesus answered and said to him, “Before Philip called you, when you were under the fig tree, I saw you.”

⁴⁹Nathanael answered Him, “Rabbi, You are the Son of God; You are the King of Israel!”

⁵⁰Jesus answered and said to him, “Because I said to you that I saw you under the fig tree, do you believe? You will see greater things than these.”

⁵¹And He *said to him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, you will see heaven opened and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man.”

¹Now the sons of Reuben and the sons of Gad had a very large number of livestock. So when they saw the land of Jazer and the land of Gilead, that it was indeed a place suitable for livestock,

²the sons of Gad and the sons of Reuben came and spoke to Moses, Eleazar the priest, and to the leaders of the congregation, saying,

³“Ataroth, Dibon, Jazer, Nimrah, Heshbon, Elealeh, Sebam, Nebo, and Beon,

⁴the land which the LORD conquered before the congregation of Israel, is a land for livestock, and your servants have livestock.”

⁵And they said, “If we have found favor in your sight, let this land be given to your servants as our property; do not take us across the Jordan.”

⁶But Moses said to the sons of Gad and the sons of Reuben, “Should your brothers go to war while you remain here?

⁷And why are you discouraging the sons of Israel from crossing over into the land which the LORD has given them?

⁸This is what your fathers did when I sent them from Kadesh-barnea to see the land.

⁹For when they went up to the Valley of Eshcol and saw the land, they discouraged the sons of Israel so that they did not go into the land which the LORD had given them.

¹⁰So the LORD’S anger burned on that day, and He swore, saying,

¹¹‘None of the men who came up from Egypt, from twenty years old and upward, shall see the land which I swore to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob; for they did not follow Me fully,

¹²except Caleb the son of Jephunneh the Kenizzite and Joshua the son of Nun; for they have followed the LORD fully.’

¹³So the LORD’S anger burned against Israel, and He made them wander in the wilderness for forty years, until the entire generation of those who had done evil in the sight of the LORD came to an end.

¹⁴Now behold, you have risen up in your fathers’ place, born of sinful men, to add still more to the burning anger of the LORD against Israel.

¹⁵For if you turn away from following Him, He will once more leave them in the wilderness, and you will destroy all these people.”

¹⁶Then they approached him and said, “We will build sheepfolds for our livestock here and cities for our little ones;

¹⁷but we ourselves will be armed, hurrying ahead of the sons of Israel, until we have brought them to their place, while our little ones live in the fortified cities because of the inhabitants of the land.

¹⁸We will not return to our homes until every one of the sons of Israel has gained possession of his inheritance.

¹⁹But we will not have an inheritance with them on the other side of the Jordan and beyond, because our inheritance has come to us on this side of the Jordan toward the east.”

²⁰So Moses said to them, “If you will do this, if you will arm yourselves before the LORD for the war,

²¹and all of you armed men cross over the Jordan before the LORD until He has driven His enemies out from Him,

²²and the land is subdued before the LORD, then afterward you may return and be free of obligation toward the LORD and toward Israel, and this land shall be yours as property before the LORD.

²³But if you do not do so, behold, you have sinned against the LORD, and be sure that your sin will find you out.

²⁴Build yourselves cities for your little ones, and sheepfolds for your sheep, and do what you have promised.”

²⁵Then the sons of Gad and the sons of Reuben spoke to Moses, saying, “Your servants will do just as my lord commands.

²⁶Our little ones, our wives, our livestock, and all our cattle shall remain there in the cities of Gilead,

²⁷while your servants, that is, everyone who is armed for war, cross over in the presence of the LORD to battle, just as my lord says.”

²⁸So Moses gave the command regarding them to Eleazar the priest, to Joshua the son of Nun, and to the heads of the fathers’ households of the tribes of the sons of Israel.

²⁹And Moses said to them, “If the sons of Gad and the sons of Reuben, everyone who is armed for battle, cross with you over the Jordan in the presence of the LORD, and the land is subdued before you, then you shall give them the land of Gilead as their property;

³⁰but if they do not cross over with you armed, they shall instead be settled among you in the land of Canaan.”

³¹And the sons of Gad and the sons of Reuben answered, saying, “As the LORD has said to your servants, so we will do.

³²We ourselves will cross over armed in the presence of the LORD into the land of Canaan, and the property of our inheritance shall remain with us across the Jordan.”

³³So Moses gave to them, to the sons of Gad, the sons of Reuben, and to the half-tribe of Joseph’s son Manasseh, the kingdom of Sihon, king of the Amorites and the kingdom of Og, the king of Bashan, the land with its cities with their territories, the cities of the surrounding land.

³⁴And the sons of Gad built Dibon, Ataroth, Aroer,

³⁵Atroth-shophan, Jazer, Jogbehah,

³⁶Beth-nimrah, and Beth-haran as fortified cities, and sheepfolds for sheep.

³⁷The sons of Reuben built Heshbon, Elealeh, Kiriathaim,

³⁸Nebo, and Baal-meon—their names being changed—and Sibmah, and they gave other names to the cities which they built.

³⁹The sons of Machir the son of Manasseh went to Gilead and took it, and dispossessed the Amorites who were in it.

⁴⁰So Moses gave Gilead to Machir the son of Manasseh, and he lived in it.

⁴¹Jair the son of Manasseh went and took its towns, and called them Havvoth-jair.

⁴²Nobah went and took Kenath and its villages, and named it Nobah, after his own name.

¹Now concerning food sacrificed to idols, we know that we all have knowledge. Knowledge makes one conceited, but love edifies people.

²If anyone thinks that he knows anything, he has not yet known as he ought to know;

³but if anyone loves God, he is known by Him.

⁴Therefore, concerning the eating of food sacrificed to idols, we know that an idol is nothing at all in the world, and that there is no God but one.

⁵For even if there are so-called gods whether in heaven or on earth, as indeed there are many gods and many lords,

⁶yet for us there is only one God, the Father, from whom are all things, and we exist for Him; and one Lord, Jesus Christ, by whom are all things, and we exist through Him.

⁷However, not all people have this knowledge; but some, being accustomed to the idol until now, eat food as if it were sacrificed to an idol; and their conscience, being weak, is defiled.

⁸Now food will not bring us close to God; we are neither the worse if we do not eat, nor the better if we do eat.

⁹But take care that this freedom of yours does not somehow become a stumbling block to the weak.

¹⁰For if someone sees you, the one who has knowledge, dining in an idol’s temple, will his conscience, if he is weak, not be strengthened to eat things sacrificed to idols?

¹¹For through your knowledge the one who is weak is ruined, the brother or sister for whose sake Christ died.

¹²And so, by sinning against the brothers and sisters and wounding their conscience when it is weak, you sin against Christ.

¹³Therefore, if food causes my brother to sin, I will never eat meat again, so that I will not cause my brother to sin.

¹It is a trustworthy statement: if any man aspires to the office of overseer, it is a fine work he desires to do.

²An overseer, then, must be above reproach, the husband of one wife, temperate, self-controlled, respectable, hospitable, skillful in teaching,

³not overindulging in wine, not a bully, but gentle, not contentious, free from the love of money.

⁴He must be one who manages his own household well, keeping his children under control with all dignity

⁵(but if a man does not know how to manage his own household, how will he take care of the church of God?),

⁶and not a new convert, so that he will not become conceited and fall into condemnation incurred by the devil.

⁷And he must have a good reputation with those outside the church, so that he will not fall into disgrace and the snare of the devil.

⁸Deacons likewise must be men of dignity, not insincere, not prone to drink much wine, not greedy for money,

⁹but holding to the mystery of the faith with a clear conscience.

¹⁰These men must also first be tested; then have them serve as deacons if they are beyond reproach.

¹¹Women must likewise be dignified, not malicious gossips, but temperate, faithful in all things.

¹²Deacons must be husbands of one wife, and good managers of their children and their own households.

¹³For those who have served well as deacons obtain for themselves a high standing and great confidence in the faith that is in Christ Jesus.

¹⁴I am writing these things to you, hoping to come to you before long;

¹⁵but in case I am delayed, I write so that you will know how one should act in the household of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and support of the truth.

¹⁶Beyond question, great is the mystery of godliness: He who was revealed in the flesh, Was vindicated in the Spirit, Seen by angels, Proclaimed among the nations, Believed on in the world, Taken up in glory.

¹Then Job responded,

²“What a help you are to the weak! You have saved the arm without strength!

³What advice you have given to one without wisdom! What helpful insight you have abundantly provided!

⁴To whom have you uttered words? And whose spirit was expressed through you?

⁵“The departed spirits are made to tremble Under the waters and their inhabitants.

⁶Sheol is naked before Him, And Abaddon has no covering.

⁷He stretches out the north over empty space And hangs the earth on nothing.

⁸He wraps up the waters in His clouds, And the cloud does not burst under them.

⁹He obscures the face of the full moon And spreads His cloud over it.

¹⁰He has inscribed a circle on the surface of the waters At the boundary of light and darkness.

¹¹The pillars of heaven tremble And are amazed at His rebuke.

¹²With His power He quieted the sea, And by His understanding He shattered Rahab.

¹³By His breath the heavens are cleared; His hand has pierced the fleeing serpent.

¹⁴Behold, these are the fringes of His ways; And how faint a word we hear of Him! But His mighty thunder, who can understand?”

¹Wrongdoing speaks to the ungodly within his heart; There is no fear of God before his eyes.

²For it flatters him in his own eyes Concerning the discovery of his wrongful deed and the hatred of it.

³The words of his mouth are wickedness and deceit; He has ceased to be wise and to do good.

⁴He plans wickedness on his bed; He sets himself on a path that is not good; He does not reject evil.

⁵Your mercy, LORD, extends to the heavens, Your faithfulness reaches to the skies.

⁶Your righteousness is like the mountains of God; Your judgments are like the great deep. LORD, You protect mankind and animals.

⁷How precious is Your mercy, God! And the sons of mankind take refuge in the shadow of Your wings.

⁸They drink their fill of the abundance of Your house; And You allow them to drink from the river of Your delights.

⁹For the fountain of life is with You; In Your light we see light.

¹⁰Prolong Your mercy to those who know You, And Your righteousness to the upright of heart.

¹¹May the foot of pride not come upon me, And may the hand of the wicked not drive me away.

¹²Those who do injustice have fallen there; They have been thrust down and cannot rise.

¹Like snow in summer and like rain in harvest, So honor is not fitting for a fool.

²Like a sparrow in its flitting, like a swallow in its flying, So a curse without cause does not come to rest.

³A whip is for the horse, a bridle for the donkey, And a rod for the back of fools.

⁴Do not answer a fool according to his foolishness, Or you will also be like him.

⁵Answer a fool as his foolishness deserves, So that he will not be wise in his own eyes.

⁶One who sends a message by the hand of a fool Chops off his own feet and drinks violence.

⁷Like useless legs to one who cannot walk, So is a proverb in the mouths of fools.

⁸Like one who binds a stone in a sling, So is one who gives honor to a fool.

⁹Like a thorn that sticks in the hand of a heavy drinker, So is a proverb in the mouths of fools.

¹⁰Like an archer who wounds everyone, So is one who hires a fool or hires those who pass by.

¹¹Like a dog that returns to its vomit, So is a fool who repeats his foolishness.

¹²Do you see a person wise in his own eyes? There is more hope for a fool than for him.

¹³A lazy one says, “There is a lion on the road! A lion is in the public square!”

¹⁴As the door turns on its hinges, So does a lazy one on his bed.

¹⁵A lazy one buries his hand in the dish; He is weary of bringing it to his mouth again.

¹⁶A lazy one is wiser in his own eyes Than seven people who can give a discreet answer.

¹⁷Like one who takes a dog by the ears, So is one who passes by and meddles with strife not belonging to him.

¹⁸Like a maniac who shoots Flaming arrows, arrows, and death,

¹⁹So is a person who deceives his neighbor, And says, “Was I not joking?”

²⁰For lack of wood the fire goes out, And where there is no gossiper, quarreling quiets down.

²¹Like charcoal to hot embers and wood to fire, So is a contentious person to kindle strife.

²²The words of a gossiper are like dainty morsels, And they go down into the innermost parts of the body.

²³Like an earthenware vessel overlaid with silver impurities Are burning lips and a wicked heart.

²⁴One who hates disguises it with his lips, But he harbors deceit in his heart.

²⁵When he speaks graciously, do not believe him, Because there are seven abominations in his heart.

²⁶Though his hatred covers itself with deception, His wickedness will be revealed in the assembly.

²⁷One who digs a pit will fall into it, And one who rolls a stone, it will come back on him.

²⁸A lying tongue hates those it crushes, And a flattering mouth works ruin.

¹Now it came about, when the king lived in his house, and the LORD had given him rest on every side from all his enemies,

²that the king said to Nathan the prophet, “See now, I live in a house of cedar, but the ark of God remains within the tent.”

³Nathan said to the king, “Go, do all that is in your mind, for the LORD is with you.”

⁴But in the same night, the word of the LORD came to Nathan, saying,

⁵“Go and say to My servant David, ‘This is what the LORD says: “Should you build Me a house for My dwelling?

⁶For I have not dwelt in a house since the day I brought up the sons of Israel from Egypt, even to this day; rather, I have been moving about in a tent, that is, in a dwelling place.

⁷Wherever I have gone with all the sons of Israel, did I speak a word with one of the tribes of Israel, whom I commanded to shepherd My people Israel, saying, ‘Why have you not built Me a house of cedar?’ ” ’

⁸Now then, this is what you shall say to My servant David: ‘This is what the LORD of armies says: “I Myself took you from the pasture, from following the sheep, to be leader over My people Israel.

⁹And I have been with you wherever you have gone, and have eliminated all your enemies from you; I will also make a great name for you, like the names of the great men who are on the earth.

¹⁰And I will establish a place for My people Israel, and will plant them, so that they may live in their own place and not be disturbed again, nor will malicious people oppress them anymore as previously,

¹¹even from the day that I appointed judges over My people Israel; and I will give you rest from all your enemies. The LORD also declares to you that the LORD will make a house for you.

¹²When your days are finished and you lie down with your fathers, I will raise up your descendant after you, who will come from you, and I will establish his kingdom.

¹³He shall build a house for My name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever.

¹⁴I will be a father to him and he will be a son to Me; when he does wrong, I will discipline him with a rod of men and with strokes of sons of mankind,

¹⁵but My favor shall not depart from him, as I took it away from Saul, whom I removed from you.

¹⁶Your house and your kingdom shall endure before Me forever; your throne shall be established forever.” ’ ”

¹⁷In accordance with all these words and all of this vision, so Nathan spoke to David.

¹⁸Then David the king came in and sat before the LORD, and he said, “Who am I, Lord GOD, and who are the members of my household, that You have brought me this far?

¹⁹And yet this was insignificant in Your eyes, Lord GOD, for You have spoken also of the house of Your servant regarding the distant future. And this is the custom of mankind, Lord GOD.

²⁰Again what more can David say to You? For You know Your servant, Lord GOD!

²¹For the sake of Your word, and according to Your heart, You have done all this greatness, to let Your servant know.

²²For this reason You are great, Lord GOD; for there is no one like You, and there is no God except You, according to all that we have heard with our ears.

²³And what one nation on the earth is like Your people Israel, whom God went to redeem for Himself as a people, and to make a name for Himself, and to do a great thing for You and awesome things for Your land, because of Your people whom You have redeemed for Yourself from Egypt, from other nations and their gods?

²⁴For You have established for Yourself Your people Israel as Your own people forever, and You, LORD, have become their God.

²⁵Now then, LORD God, the word that You have spoken about Your servant and his house, confirm it forever, and do just as You have spoken,

²⁶so that Your name may be great forever, by saying, ‘The LORD of armies is God over Israel’; and may the house of Your servant David be established before You.

²⁷For You, LORD of armies, God of Israel, have given a revelation to Your servant, saying, ‘I will build you a house’; therefore Your servant has found courage to pray this prayer to You.

²⁸Now then, Lord GOD, You are God, and Your words are truth; and You have promised this good thing to Your servant.

²⁹And now, may it please You to bless the house of Your servant, so that it may continue forever before You. For You, Lord GOD, have spoken; and with Your blessing may the house of Your servant be blessed forever.”

¹When Pashhur the priest, the son of Immer, who was chief overseer in the house of the LORD, heard Jeremiah prophesying these things,

²Pashhur had Jeremiah the prophet beaten and put him in the stocks that were at the upper Benjamin Gate, which was by the house of the LORD.

³Then on the next day, when Pashhur released Jeremiah from the stocks, Jeremiah said to him, “Pashhur is not the name the LORD has called you, but rather Magor-missabib.

⁴For this is what the LORD says: ‘Behold, I am going to make you a horror to yourself and to all your friends; and while your eyes look on, they will fall by the sword of their enemies. So I will hand all Judah over to the king of Babylon, and he will take them away as exiles to Babylon and will kill them with the sword.

⁵I will also give all the wealth of this city, all its produce and all its valuable things—even all the treasures of the kings of Judah I will hand over to their enemies, and they will plunder them, take them away, and bring them to Babylon.

⁶And you, Pashhur, and all who live in your house will go into captivity; and you will enter Babylon, and there you will die and there you will be buried, you and all your friends to whom you have falsely prophesied.’ ”

⁷LORD, You persuaded me and I let myself be persuaded; You have overcome me and prevailed. I have become a laughingstock all day long; Everyone mocks me.

⁸For each time I speak, I cry aloud; I proclaim violence and destruction, Because for me the word of the LORD has resulted In taunting and derision all day long.

⁹But if I say, “I will not remember Him Nor speak anymore in His name,” Then in my heart it becomes like a burning fire Shut up in my bones; And I am tired of holding it in, And I cannot endure it.

¹⁰For I have heard the whispering of many, “Terror on every side! Denounce him; let’s denounce him!” All my trusted friends, Watching for my fall, say: “Perhaps he will be persuaded, so that we may prevail against him And take our revenge on him.”

¹¹But the LORD is with me like a powerful champion; Therefore my persecutors will stumble and not prevail. They will be put to great shame because they have failed, An everlasting disgrace that will not be forgotten.

¹²Yet, LORD of armies, who tests the righteous, Who sees the mind and the heart; Let me see Your vengeance on them, For to You I have disclosed my cause.

¹³Sing to the LORD, praise the LORD! For He has saved the soul of the needy one From the hand of evildoers.

¹⁴Cursed be the day when I was born; May the day when my mother gave birth to me not be blessed!

¹⁵Cursed be the man who brought the news To my father, saying, “A boy has been born to you!” And made him very happy.

¹⁶But may that man be like the cities Which the LORD overthrew without relenting, And may he hear an outcry in the morning And an alarm for war at noon;

¹⁷Because he did not kill me before birth, So that my mother would have been my grave, And her womb forever pregnant.

¹⁸Why did I ever come out of the womb To look at trouble and sorrow, So that my days have been spent in shame?

¹When they had been brought safely through, then we found out that the island was called Malta.

²The natives showed us extraordinary kindness, for they kindled a fire and took us all in because of the rain that had started and because of the cold.

³But when Paul had gathered a bundle of sticks and laid them on the fire, a viper came out because of the heat and fastened itself on his hand.

⁴When the natives saw the creature hanging from his hand, they began saying to one another, “Undoubtedly this man is a murderer, and though he has been saved from the sea, justice has not allowed him to live.”

⁵However, Paul shook the creature off into the fire and suffered no harm.

⁶Now they were expecting that he was going to swell up or suddenly fall down dead. But after they had waited a long time and had seen nothing unusual happen to him, they changed their minds and began to say that he was a god.

⁷Now in the neighboring parts of that place were lands belonging to the leading man of the island, named Publius, who welcomed us and entertained us warmly for three days.

⁸And it happened that the father of Publius was lying in bed afflicted with a recurring fever and dysentery. Paul went in to see him, and after he prayed, he laid his hands on him and healed him.

⁹After this happened, the rest of the people on the island who had diseases were coming to him and being cured.

¹⁰They also showed us many honors, and when we were about to set sail, they supplied us with everything we needed.

¹¹After three months we set sail on an Alexandrian ship which had wintered at the island, and which had the Twin Brothers for its figurehead.

¹²After we put in at Syracuse, we stayed there for three days.

¹³From there we sailed around and arrived at Rhegium, and a day later a south wind came up, and on the second day we came to Puteoli.

¹⁴There we found some brothers and sisters, and were invited to stay with them for seven days; and that is how we came to Rome.

¹⁵And from there the brothers and sisters, when they heard about us, came as far as the Market of Appius and the Three Inns to meet us; and when Paul saw them, he thanked God and took courage.

¹⁶When we entered Rome, Paul was allowed to stay by himself, with the soldier who was guarding him.

¹⁷After three days Paul called together those who were the leading men of the Jews, and when they came together, he began saying to them, “Brothers, though I had done nothing against our people or the customs of our fathers, yet I was handed over to the Romans as a prisoner from Jerusalem.

¹⁸And when they had examined me, they were willing to release me because there were no grounds for putting me to death.

¹⁹But when the Jews objected, I was forced to appeal to Caesar, not that I had any accusation against my nation.

²⁰For this reason, therefore, I requested to see you and to speak with you, since I am wearing this chain for the sake of the hope of Israel.”

²¹They said to him, “We have neither received letters from Judea concerning you, nor has any of the brothers come here and reported or spoken anything bad about you.

²²But we desire to hear from you what your views are; for regarding this sect, it is known to us that it is spoken against everywhere.”

²³When they had set a day for Paul, people came to him at his lodging in large numbers; and he was explaining to them by solemnly testifying about the kingdom of God and trying to persuade them concerning Jesus, from both the Law of Moses and from the Prophets, from morning until evening.

²⁴Some were being persuaded by the things said by Paul, but others would not believe.

²⁵And when they disagreed with one another, they began leaving after Paul said one parting statement: “The Holy Spirit rightly spoke through Isaiah the prophet to your fathers,

²⁶saying, ‘GO TO THIS PEOPLE AND SAY, “YOU WILL KEEP ON HEARING, AND WILL NOT UNDERSTAND; AND YOU WILL KEEP ON SEEING, AND WILL NOT PERCEIVE;

²⁷FOR THE HEARTS OF THIS PEOPLE HAVE BECOME INSENSITIVE, AND WITH THEIR EARS THEY HARDLY HEAR, AND THEY HAVE CLOSED THEIR EYES; OTHERWISE THEY MIGHT SEE WITH THEIR EYES, AND HEAR WITH THEIR EARS, AND UNDERSTAND WITH THEIR HEART AND RETURN, AND I WOULD HEAL THEM.” ’

²⁸Therefore, let it be known to you that this salvation of God has been sent to the Gentiles; they will also listen.”

²⁹

³⁰Now Paul stayed two full years in his own rented lodging and welcomed all who came to him,

³¹preaching the kingdom of God and teaching things about the Lord Jesus Christ with all openness, unhindered.