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 were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made.

⁴In Him was life, and the life was the light of men.

⁵And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it.

⁶There was a man sent from God, whose name was John.

⁷This man came for a witness, to bear witness of the Light, that all through him might believe.

⁸He was not that Light, but was sent to bear witness of that Light.

⁹That was the true Light which gives light to every man coming into the world.

¹⁰He was in the world, and the world was made through Him, and the world did not know Him.

¹¹He came to His own, and His own did not receive 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 man, but of God.

¹⁴And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.

¹⁵John bore witness of Him and cried out, saying, “This was He of whom I said, ‘He who comes after me is preferred before me, for He was before me.’ ”

¹⁶And of His fullness we have all received, and grace for grace.

¹⁷For the law was given through Moses, but grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.

¹⁸No one has seen God at any time. The only begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, He has declared Him.

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

²⁰He confessed, and did not deny, but confessed, “I am not the Christ.”

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

²²Then they said to him, “Who are you, 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 crying in the wilderness: “Make straight the way of the LORD,” ’ as the prophet Isaiah said.”

²⁴Now those who were sent were from the Pharisees.

²⁵And they asked him, saying, “Why then do you baptize if you are not the Christ, nor Elijah, nor the Prophet?”

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

²⁷It is He who, coming after me, is preferred before me, whose sandal strap I am not worthy to loose.”

²⁸These things were done in Bethabara beyond the Jordan, where John was baptizing.

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

³⁰This is He of whom I said, ‘After me comes a Man who is preferred before me, for He was before me.’

³¹I did not know Him; but that He should be revealed to Israel, therefore I came baptizing with water.”

³²And John bore witness, saying, “I saw the Spirit descending from heaven like a dove, and He remained upon Him.

³³I did not know Him, but He who sent me to baptize with water said to me, ‘Upon whom you see the Spirit descending, and remaining on Him, this is He who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.’

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

³⁵Again, the next day, John stood with two of his disciples.

³⁶And looking at Jesus as He walked, he said, “Behold the Lamb of God!”

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

³⁸Then Jesus turned, and seeing them following, said to them, “What do you seek?” They said to Him, “Rabbi” (which is to say, when translated, Teacher), “where are You staying?”

³⁹He said to them, “Come and see.” They came and saw where He was staying, and remained with Him that day (now 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 is translated, the Christ).

⁴²And he brought him to Jesus. Now when Jesus looked at him, He said, “You are Simon the son of Jonah. You shall be called Cephas” (which is translated, A Stone).

⁴³The following day Jesus wanted to go to Galilee, and He found Philip and 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 in the law, and also the prophets, wrote—Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.”

⁴⁶And Nathanael said to him, “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?” Philip said to him, “Come and see.”

⁴⁷Jesus saw Nathanael coming toward Him, and said of him, “Behold, an Israelite indeed, in whom 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 and said to 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, ‘I saw you under the fig tree,’ do you believe? You will see greater things than these.”

⁵¹And He said to him, “Most assuredly, I say to you, hereafter you shall see heaven open, and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of Man.”

¹Now the children of Reuben and the children of Gad had a very great multitude of livestock; and when they saw the land of Jazer and the land of Gilead, that indeed the region was a place for livestock,

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

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

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

⁵Therefore they said, “If we have found favor in your sight, let this land be given to your servants as a possession. Do not take us over the Jordan.”

⁶And Moses said to the children of Gad and to the children of Reuben: “Shall your brethren go to war while you sit here?

⁷Now why will you discourage the heart of the children of Israel from going over into the land which the LORD has given them?

⁸Thus your fathers did when I sent them away from Kadesh Barnea to see the land.

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

¹⁰So the LORD’s anger was aroused on that day, and He swore an oath, saying,

¹¹‘Surely none of the men who came up from Egypt, from twenty years old and above, shall see the land of which I swore to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, because they have not wholly followed Me,

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

¹³So the LORD’s anger was aroused against Israel, and He made them wander in the wilderness forty years, until all the generation that had done evil in the sight of the LORD was gone.

¹⁴And look! You have risen in your fathers’ place, a brood of sinful men, to increase still more the fierce anger of the LORD against Israel.

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

¹⁶Then they came near to him and said: “We will build sheepfolds here for our livestock, and cities for our little ones,

¹⁷but we ourselves will be armed, ready to go before the children of Israel until we have brought them to their place; and our little ones will dwell in the fortified cities because of the inhabitants of the land.

¹⁸We will not return to our homes until every one of the children of Israel has received his inheritance.

¹⁹For we will not inherit with them on the other side of the Jordan and beyond, because our inheritance has fallen to us on this eastern side of the Jordan.”

²⁰Then Moses said to them: “If you do this thing, if you arm yourselves before the LORD for the war,

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

²²and the land is subdued before the LORD, then afterward you may return and be blameless before the LORD and before Israel; and this land shall be your possession before the LORD.

²³But if you do not do so, then take note, you have sinned against the LORD; and be sure your sin will find you out.

²⁴Build cities for your little ones and folds for your sheep, and do what has proceeded out of your mouth.”

²⁵And the children of Gad and the children of Reuben spoke to Moses, saying: “Your servants will do as my lord commands.

²⁶Our little ones, our wives, our flocks, and all our livestock will be there in the cities of Gilead;

²⁷but your servants will cross over, every man armed for war, before the LORD to battle, just as my lord says.”

²⁸So Moses gave command concerning them to Eleazar the priest, to Joshua the son of Nun, and to the chief fathers of the tribes of the children of Israel.

²⁹And Moses said to them: “If the children of Gad and the children of Reuben cross over the Jordan with you, every man armed for battle before the LORD, and the land is subdued before you, then you shall give them the land of Gilead as a possession.

³⁰But if they do not cross over armed with you, they shall have possessions among you in the land of Canaan.”

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

³²We will cross over armed before the LORD into the land of Canaan, but the possession of our inheritance shall remain with us on this side of the Jordan.”

³³So Moses gave to the children of Gad, to the children of Reuben, and to half the tribe of Manasseh the son of Joseph, the kingdom of Sihon king of the Amorites and the kingdom of Og king of Bashan, the land with its cities within the borders, the cities of the surrounding country.

³⁴And the children of Gad built Dibon and Ataroth and Aroer,

³⁵Atroth and Shophan and Jazer and Jogbehah,

³⁶Beth Nimrah and Beth Haran, fortified cities, and folds for sheep.

³⁷And the children of Reuben built Heshbon and Elealeh and Kirjathaim,

³⁸Nebo and Baal Meon (their names being changed) and Shibmah; and they gave other names to the cities which they built.

³⁹And the children 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 dwelt in it.

⁴¹Also Jair the son of Manasseh went and took its small towns, and called them Havoth Jair.

⁴²Then Nobah went and took Kenath and its villages, and he called it Nobah, after his own name.

¹Now concerning things offered to idols: We know that we all have knowledge. Knowledge puffs up, but love edifies.

²And if anyone thinks that he knows anything, he knows nothing yet as he ought to know.

³But if anyone loves God, this one is known by Him.

⁴Therefore concerning the eating of things offered to idols, we know that an idol is nothing in the world, and that there is no other God but one.

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

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

⁷However, there is not in everyone that knowledge; for some, with consciousness of the idol, until now eat it as a thing offered to an idol; and their conscience, being weak, is defiled.

⁸But food does not commend us to God; for neither if we eat are we the better, nor if we do not eat are we the worse.

⁹But beware lest somehow this liberty of yours become a stumbling block to those who are weak.

¹⁰For if anyone sees you who have knowledge eating in an idol’s temple, will not the conscience of him who is weak be emboldened to eat those things offered to idols?

¹¹And because of your knowledge shall the weak brother perish, for whom Christ died?

¹²But when you thus sin against the brethren, and wound their weak conscience, you sin against Christ.

¹³Therefore, if food makes my brother stumble, I will never again eat meat, lest I make my brother stumble.

¹This is a faithful saying: If a man desires the position of a bishop, he desires a good work.

²A bishop then must be blameless, the husband of one wife, temperate, sober-minded, of good behavior, hospitable, able to teach;

³not given to wine, not violent, not greedy for money, but gentle, not quarrelsome, not covetous;

⁴one who rules his own house well, having his children in submission with all reverence

⁵(for if a man does not know how to rule his own house, how will he take care of the church of God?);

⁶not a novice, lest being puffed up with pride he fall into the same condemnation as the devil.

⁷Moreover he must have a good testimony among those who are outside, lest he fall into reproach and the snare of the devil.

⁸Likewise deacons must be reverent, not double-tongued, not given to much wine, not greedy for money,

⁹holding the mystery of the faith with a pure conscience.

¹⁰But let these also first be tested; then let them serve as deacons, being found blameless.

¹¹Likewise, their wives must be reverent, not slanderers, temperate, faithful in all things.

¹²Let deacons be the husbands of one wife, ruling their children and their own houses well.

¹³For those who have served well as deacons obtain for themselves a good standing and great boldness in the faith which is in Christ Jesus.

¹⁴These things I write to you, though I hope to come to you shortly;

¹⁵but if I am delayed, I write so that you may know how you ought to conduct yourself in the house of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and ground of the truth.

¹⁶And without controversy great is the mystery of godliness: God was manifested in the flesh, Justified in the Spirit, Seen by angels, Preached among the Gentiles, Believed on in the world, Received up in glory.

¹But Job answered and said:

²“How have you helped him who is without power? How have you saved the arm that has no strength?

³How have you counseled one who has no wisdom? And how have you declared sound advice to many?

⁴To whom have you uttered words? And whose spirit came from you?

⁵“The dead tremble, Those under the waters and those inhabiting them.

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

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

⁸He binds up the water in His thick clouds, Yet the clouds are not broken under it.

⁹He covers the face of His throne, And spreads His cloud over it.

¹⁰He drew a circular horizon on the face of the waters, At the boundary of light and darkness.

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

¹²He stirs up the sea with His power, And by His understanding He breaks up the storm.

¹³By His Spirit He adorned the heavens; His hand pierced the fleeing serpent.

¹⁴Indeed these are the mere edges of His ways, And how small a whisper we hear of Him! But the thunder of His power who can understand?”

¹To the Chief Musician. A Psalm of David the servant of the LORD. [1] An oracle within my heart concerning the transgression of the wicked: There is no fear of God before his eyes.

²For he flatters himself in his own eyes, When he finds out his iniquity and when he hates.

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

⁴He devises wickedness on his bed; He sets himself in a way that is not good; He does not abhor evil.

⁵Your mercy, O LORD, is in the heavens; Your faithfulness reaches to the clouds.

⁶Your righteousness is like the great mountains; Your judgments are a great deep; O LORD, You preserve man and beast.

⁷How precious is Your lovingkindness, O God! Therefore the children of men put their trust under the shadow of Your wings.

⁸They are abundantly satisfied with the fullness of Your house, And You give them drink from the river of Your pleasures.

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

¹⁰Oh, continue Your lovingkindness to those who know You, And Your righteousness to the upright in heart.

¹¹Let not the foot of pride come against me, And let not the hand of the wicked drive me away.

¹²There the workers of iniquity have fallen; They have been cast down and are not able to rise.

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

²Like a flitting sparrow, like a flying swallow, So a curse without cause shall not alight.

³A whip for the horse, A bridle for the donkey, And a rod for the fool’s back.

⁴Do not answer a fool according to his folly, Lest you also be like him.

⁵Answer a fool according to his folly, Lest he be wise in his own eyes.

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

⁷Like the legs of the lame that hang limp Is a proverb in the mouth of fools.

⁸Like one who binds a stone in a sling Is he who gives honor to a fool.

⁹Like a thorn that goes into the hand of a drunkard Is a proverb in the mouth of fools.

¹⁰The great God who formed everything Gives the fool his hire and the transgressor his wages.

¹¹As a dog returns to his own vomit, So a fool repeats his folly.

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

¹³The lazy man says, “There is a lion in the road! A fierce lion is in the streets!”

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

¹⁵The lazy man buries his hand in the bowl; It wearies him to bring it back to his mouth.

¹⁶The lazy man is wiser in his own eyes Than seven men who can answer sensibly.

¹⁷He who passes by and meddles in a quarrel not his own Is like one who takes a dog by the ears.

¹⁸Like a madman who throws firebrands, arrows, and death,

¹⁹Is the man who deceives his neighbor, And says, “I was only joking!”

²⁰Where there is no wood, the fire goes out; And where there is no talebearer, strife ceases.

²¹As charcoal is to burning coals, and wood to fire, So is a contentious man to kindle strife.

²²The words of a talebearer are like tasty trifles, And they go down into the inmost body.

²³Fervent lips with a wicked heart Are like earthenware covered with silver dross.

²⁴He who hates, disguises it with his lips, And lays up deceit within himself;

²⁵When he speaks kindly, do not believe him, For there are seven abominations in his heart;

²⁶Though his hatred is covered by deceit, His wickedness will be revealed before the assembly.

²⁷Whoever digs a pit will fall into it, And he who rolls a stone will have it roll back on him.

²⁸A lying tongue hates those who are crushed by it, And a flattering mouth works ruin.

¹Now it came to pass when the king was dwelling in his house, and the LORD had given him rest from all his enemies all around,

²that the king said to Nathan the prophet, “See now, I dwell in a house of cedar, but the ark of God dwells inside tent curtains.”

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

⁴But it happened that night that the word of the LORD came to Nathan, saying,

⁵“Go and tell My servant David, ‘Thus says the LORD: “Would you build a house for Me to dwell in?

⁶For I have not dwelt in a house since the time that I brought the children of Israel up from Egypt, even to this day, but have moved about in a tent and in a tabernacle.

⁷Wherever I have moved about with all the children of Israel, have I ever spoken a word to anyone from the tribes of Israel, whom I commanded to shepherd My people Israel, saying, ‘Why have you not built Me a house of cedar?’ ” ’

⁸Now therefore, thus shall you say to My servant David, ‘Thus says the LORD of hosts: “I took you from the sheepfold, from following the sheep, to be ruler over My people, over Israel.

⁹And I have been with you wherever you have gone, and have cut off all your enemies from before you, and have made you a great name, like the name of the great men who are on the earth.

¹⁰Moreover I will appoint a place for My people Israel, and will plant them, that they may dwell in a place of their own and move no more; nor shall the sons of wickedness oppress them anymore, as previously,

¹¹since the time that I commanded judges to be over My people Israel, and have caused you to rest from all your enemies. Also the LORD tells you that He will make you a house.

¹²“When your days are fulfilled and you rest with your fathers, I will set up your seed after you, who will come from your body, 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 his Father, and he shall be My son. If he commits iniquity, I will chasten him with the rod of men and with the blows of the sons of men.

¹⁵But My mercy shall not depart from him, as I took it from Saul, whom I removed from before you.

¹⁶And your house and your kingdom shall be established forever before you. Your throne shall be established forever.” ’ ”

¹⁷According to all these words and according to all this vision, so Nathan spoke to David.

¹⁸Then King David went in and sat before the LORD; and he said: “Who am I, O Lord GOD? And what is my house, that You have brought me this far?

¹⁹And yet this was a small thing in Your sight, O Lord GOD; and You have also spoken of Your servant’s house for a great while to come. Is this the manner of man, O Lord GOD?

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

²¹For Your word’s sake, and according to Your own heart, You have done all these great things, to make Your servant know them.

²²Therefore You are great, O Lord GOD. For there is none like You, nor is there any God besides You, according to all that we have heard with our ears.

²³And who is like Your people, like Israel, the one nation on the earth whom God went to redeem for Himself as a people, to make for Himself a name—and to do for Yourself great and awesome deeds for Your land—before Your people whom You redeemed for Yourself from Egypt, the nations, and their gods?

²⁴For You have made Your people Israel Your very own people forever; and You, LORD, have become their God.

²⁵“Now, O LORD God, the word which You have spoken concerning Your servant and concerning his house, establish it forever and do as You have said.

²⁶So let Your name be magnified forever, saying, ‘The LORD of hosts is the God over Israel.’ And let the house of Your servant David be established before You.

²⁷For You, O LORD of hosts, God of Israel, have revealed this to Your servant, saying, ‘I will build you a house.’ Therefore Your servant has found it in his heart to pray this prayer to You.

²⁸“And now, O Lord GOD, You are God, and Your words are true, and You have promised this goodness to Your servant.

²⁹Now therefore, let it please You to bless the house of Your servant, that it may continue before You forever; for You, O Lord GOD, have spoken it, and with Your blessing let the house of Your servant be blessed forever.”

¹Now Pashhur the son of Immer, the priest who was also chief governor in the house of the LORD, heard that Jeremiah prophesied these things.

²Then Pashhur struck Jeremiah the prophet, and put him in the stocks that were in the high gate of Benjamin, which was by the house of the LORD.

³And it happened on the next day that Pashhur brought Jeremiah out of the stocks. Then Jeremiah said to him, “The LORD has not called your name Pashhur, but Magor-Missabib.

⁴For thus says the LORD: ‘Behold, I will make you a terror to yourself and to all your friends; and they shall fall by the sword of their enemies, and your eyes shall see it. I will give all Judah into the hand of the king of Babylon, and he shall carry them captive to Babylon and slay them with the sword.

⁵Moreover I will deliver all the wealth of this city, all its produce, and all its precious things; all the treasures of the kings of Judah I will give into the hand of their enemies, who will plunder them, seize them, and carry them to Babylon.

⁶And you, Pashhur, and all who dwell in your house, shall go into captivity. You shall go to Babylon, and there you shall die, and be buried there, you and all your friends, to whom you have prophesied lies.’ ”

⁷O LORD, You induced me, and I was persuaded; You are stronger than I, and have prevailed. I am in derision daily; Everyone mocks me.

⁸For when I spoke, I cried out; I shouted, “Violence and plunder!” Because the word of the LORD was made to me A reproach and a derision daily.

⁹Then I said, “I will not make mention of Him, Nor speak anymore in His name.” But His word was in my heart like a burning fire Shut up in my bones; I was weary of holding it back, And I could not.

¹⁰For I heard many mocking: “Fear on every side!” “Report,” they say, “and we will report it!” All my acquaintances watched for my stumbling, saying, “Perhaps he can be induced; Then we will prevail against him, And we will take our revenge on him.”

¹¹But the LORD is with me as a mighty, awesome One. Therefore my persecutors will stumble, and will not prevail. They will be greatly ashamed, for they will not prosper. Their everlasting confusion will never be forgotten.

¹²But, O LORD of hosts, You who test the righteous, And see the mind and heart, Let me see Your vengeance on them; For I have pleaded my cause before You.

¹³Sing to the LORD! Praise the LORD! For He has delivered the life of the poor From the hand of evildoers.

¹⁴Cursed be the day in which I was born! Let the day not be blessed in which my mother bore me!

¹⁵Let the man be cursed Who brought news to my father, saying, “A male child has been born to you!” Making him very glad.

¹⁶And let that man be like the cities Which the LORD overthrew, and did not relent; Let him hear the cry in the morning And the shouting at noon,

¹⁷Because he did not kill me from the womb, That my mother might have been my grave, And her womb always enlarged with me.

¹⁸Why did I come forth from the womb to see labor and sorrow, That my days should be consumed with shame?

¹Now when they had escaped, they then found out that the island was called Malta.

²And the natives showed us unusual kindness; for they kindled a fire and made us all welcome, because of the rain that was falling 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 on his hand.

⁴So when the natives saw the creature hanging from his hand, they said to one another, “No doubt this man is a murderer, whom, though he has escaped the sea, yet justice does not allow to live.”

⁵But he shook off the creature into the fire and suffered no harm.

⁶However, they were expecting that he would swell up or suddenly fall down dead. But after they had looked for a long time and saw no harm come to him, they changed their minds and said that he was a god.

⁷In that region there was an estate of the leading citizen of the island, whose name was Publius, who received us and entertained us courteously for three days.

⁸And it happened that the father of Publius lay sick of a fever and dysentery. Paul went in to him and prayed, and he laid his hands on him and healed him.

⁹So when this was done, the rest of those on the island who had diseases also came and were healed.

¹⁰They also honored us in many ways; and when we departed, they provided such things as were necessary.

¹¹After three months we sailed in an Alexandrian ship whose figurehead was the Twin Brothers, which had wintered at the island.

¹²And landing at Syracuse, we stayed three days.

¹³From there we circled round and reached Rhegium. And after one day the south wind blew; and the next day we came to Puteoli,

¹⁴where we found brethren, and were invited to stay with them seven days. And so we went toward Rome.

¹⁵And from there, when the brethren heard about us, they came to meet us as far as Appii Forum and Three Inns. When Paul saw them, he thanked God and took courage.

¹⁶Now when we came to Rome, the centurion delivered the prisoners to the captain of the guard; but Paul was permitted to dwell by himself with the soldier who guarded him.

¹⁷And it came to pass after three days that Paul called the leaders of the Jews together. So when they had come together, he said to them: “Men and brethren, though I have done nothing against our people or the customs of our fathers, yet I was delivered as a prisoner from Jerusalem into the hands of the Romans,

¹⁸who, when they had examined me, wanted to let me go, because there was no cause for putting me to death.

¹⁹But when the Jews spoke against it, I was compelled to appeal to Caesar, not that I had anything of which to accuse my nation.

²⁰For this reason therefore I have called for you, to see you and speak with you, because for the hope of Israel I am bound with this chain.”

²¹Then they said to him, “We neither received letters from Judea concerning you, nor have any of the brethren who came reported or spoken any evil of you.

²²But we desire to hear from you what you think; for concerning this sect, we know that it is spoken against everywhere.”

²³So when they had appointed him a day, many came to him at his lodging, to whom he explained and solemnly testified of the kingdom of God, persuading them concerning Jesus from both the Law of Moses and the Prophets, from morning till evening.

²⁴And some were persuaded by the things which were spoken, and some disbelieved.

²⁵So when they did not agree among themselves, they departed after Paul had said one word: “The Holy Spirit spoke rightly through Isaiah the prophet to our fathers,

²⁶saying, ‘Go to this people and say: “Hearing you will hear, and shall not understand; And seeing you will see, and not perceive;

²⁷For the hearts of this people have grown dull. Their ears are hard of hearing, And their eyes they have closed, Lest they should see with their eyes and hear with their ears, Lest they should understand with their hearts and turn, So that I should heal them.” ’

²⁸“Therefore let it be known to you that the salvation of God has been sent to the Gentiles, and they will hear it!”

²⁹And when he had said these words, the Jews departed and had a great dispute among themselves.

³⁰Then Paul dwelt two whole years in his own rented house, and received all who came to him,

³¹preaching the kingdom of God and teaching the things which concern the Lord Jesus Christ with all confidence, no one forbidding him.