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 without him not one thing came into being. What has come into being

⁴in him was life, and the life was the light of all people.

⁵The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it.

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

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

⁸He himself was not the light, but he came to testify to the light.

⁹The true light, which enlightens everyone, was coming into the world.

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

¹¹He came to what was his own, and his own people did not accept him.

¹²But to all who received him, who believed in his name, he gave power to become children of God,

¹³who were born, not of blood or of the will of the flesh or of the will of man, but of God.

¹⁴And the Word became flesh and lived among us, and we have seen his glory, the glory as of a father’s only son, full of grace and truth.

¹⁵(John testified to him and cried out, “This was he of whom I said, ‘He who comes after me ranks ahead of me because he was before me.’”)

¹⁶From his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace.

¹⁷The law indeed was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.

¹⁸No one has ever seen God. It is God the only Son, who is close to the Father’s heart, who has made him known.

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

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

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

²²Then they said to him, “Who are you? Let us have an answer for those who sent us. What do you say about yourself?”

²³He said, “I am the voice of one crying out in the wilderness, ‘Make straight the way of the Lord,’” as the prophet Isaiah said.

²⁴Now they had been sent from the Pharisees.

²⁵They asked him, “Why then are you baptizing if you are neither the Messiah, nor Elijah, nor the prophet?”

²⁶John answered them, “I baptize with water. Among you stands one whom you do not know,

²⁷the one who is coming after me; I am not worthy to untie the thong of his sandal.”

²⁸This took place in Bethany across the Jordan where John was baptizing.

²⁹The next day he saw Jesus coming toward him and declared, “Here is 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 ranks ahead of me because he was before me.’

³¹I myself did not know him; but I came baptizing with water for this reason, that he might be revealed to Israel.”

³²And John testified, “I saw the Spirit descending from heaven like a dove, and it remained on him.

³³I myself did not know him, but the one who sent me to baptize with water said to me, ‘He on whom you see the Spirit descend and remain is the one who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.’

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

³⁵The next day John again was standing with two of his disciples,

³⁶and as he watched Jesus walk by, he exclaimed, “Look, here is the Lamb of God!”

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

³⁸When Jesus turned and saw them following, he said to them, “What are you looking for?” They said to him, “Rabbi” (which translated means Teacher), “where are you staying?”

³⁹He said to them, “Come and see.” They came and saw where he was staying, and they remained with him that day. It was about four o’clock in the afternoon.

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

⁴¹He first found his brother Simon and said to him, “We have found the Messiah” (which is translated Anointed).

⁴²He brought Simon to Jesus, who looked at him and said, “You are Simon son of John. You are to be called Cephas” (which is translated Peter).

⁴³The next day Jesus decided to go to Galilee. 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 about whom Moses in the law and also the prophets wrote, Jesus son of Joseph from Nazareth.”

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

⁴⁷When Jesus saw Nathanael coming toward him, he said of him, “Here is truly an Israelite in whom there is no deceit!”

⁴⁸Nathanael asked him, “Where did you get to know me?” Jesus answered, “I saw you under the fig tree before Philip called you.”

⁴⁹Nathanael replied, “Rabbi, you are the Son of God! You are the King of Israel!”

⁵⁰Jesus answered, “Do you believe because I told you that I saw you under the fig tree? You will see greater things than these.”

⁵¹And he said to him, “Very truly, I tell you, you will see heaven opened and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of Man.”

¹Now the Reubenites and the Gadites owned a very great number of cattle. When they saw that the land of Jazer and the land of Gilead was a good place for cattle,

²the Gadites and the Reubenites came and spoke to Moses, to Eleazar the priest, and to the leaders of the congregation, saying,

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

⁴the land that the LORD subdued before the congregation of Israel — is a land for cattle; and your servants have cattle.”

⁵They continued, “If we have found favor in your sight, let this land be given to your servants for a possession; do not make us cross the Jordan.”

⁶But Moses said to the Gadites and to the Reubenites, “Shall your brothers go to war while you sit here?

⁷Why will you discourage the hearts of the Israelites from going over into the land that the LORD has given them?

⁸Your fathers did this, when I sent them from Kadesh-barnea to see the land.

⁹When they went up to the Wadi Eshcol and saw the land, they discouraged the hearts of the Israelites from going into the land that the LORD had given them.

¹⁰The LORD’s anger was kindled on that day and he swore, saying,

¹¹‘Surely none of the people who came up out of Egypt, from twenty years old and upward, shall see the land that I swore to give to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, because they have not unreservedly followed me —

¹²none except Caleb son of Jephunneh the Kenizzite and Joshua son of Nun, for they have unreservedly followed the LORD.’

¹³And the LORD’s anger was kindled against Israel, and he made them wander in the wilderness for forty years, until all the generation that had done evil in the sight of the LORD had disappeared.

¹⁴And now you, a brood of sinners, have risen in place of your fathers, to increase the LORD’s fierce anger against Israel!

¹⁵If you turn away from following him, he will again abandon them in the wilderness; and you will destroy all this people.”

¹⁶Then they came up to him and said, “We will build sheepfolds here for our flocks, and towns for our little ones,

¹⁷but we will take up arms as a vanguard before the Israelites, until we have brought them to their place. Meanwhile our little ones will stay in the fortified towns because of the inhabitants of the land.

¹⁸We will not return to our homes until all the Israelites have obtained their inheritance.

¹⁹We will not inherit with them on the other side of the Jordan and beyond, because our inheritance has come to us on this side of the Jordan to the east.”

²⁰So Moses said to them, “If you do this — if you take up arms to go before the LORD for the war,

²¹and all those of you who bear arms cross the Jordan before the LORD, until he has driven out his enemies from before him

²²and the land is subdued before the LORD — then after that you may return and be free of obligation to the LORD and to Israel, and this land shall be your possession before the LORD.

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

²⁴Build towns for your little ones, and folds for your flocks; but do what you have promised.”

²⁵Then the Gadites and the Reubenites said to Moses, “Your servants will do as my lord commands.

²⁶Our little ones, our wives, our flocks, and all our livestock shall remain there in the towns of Gilead;

²⁷but your servants will cross over, everyone armed for war, to do battle for the LORD, just as my lord orders.”

²⁸So Moses gave command concerning them to Eleazar the priest, to Joshua son of Nun, and to the heads of the ancestral houses of the Israelite tribes.

²⁹And Moses said to them, “If the Gadites and the Reubenites, everyone armed for battle before the LORD, will cross over the Jordan with you and the land shall be subdued before you, then you shall give them the land of Gilead for a possession;

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

³¹The Gadites and the Reubenites answered, “As the LORD has spoken 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.”

³³Moses gave to them — to the Gadites and to the Reubenites and to the half-tribe of Manasseh son of Joseph — the kingdom of King Sihon of the Amorites and the kingdom of King Og of Bashan, the land and its towns, with the territories of the surrounding towns.

³⁴And the Gadites rebuilt Dibon, Ataroth, Aroer,

³⁵Atroth-shophan, Jazer, Jogbehah,

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

³⁷And the Reubenites rebuilt Heshbon, Elealeh, Kiriathaim,

³⁸Nebo, and Baal-meon (some names being changed), and Sibmah; and they gave names to the towns that they rebuilt.

³⁹The descendants of Machir son of Manasseh went to Gilead, captured it, and dispossessed the Amorites who were there;

⁴⁰so Moses gave Gilead to Machir son of Manasseh, and he settled there.

⁴¹Jair son of Manasseh went and captured their villages, and renamed them Havvoth-jair.

⁴²And Nobah went and captured Kenath and its villages, and renamed it Nobah after himself.

¹Now concerning food sacrificed to idols: we know that “all of us possess knowledge.” Knowledge puffs up, but love builds up.

²Anyone who claims to know something does not yet have the necessary knowledge;

³but anyone who loves God is known by him.

⁴Hence, as to the eating of food offered to idols, we know that “no idol in the world really exists,” and that “there is no God but one.”

⁵Indeed, even though there may be so-called gods in heaven or on earth — as in fact there are many gods and many lords —

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

⁷It is not everyone, however, who has this knowledge. Since some have become so accustomed to idols until now, they still think of the food they eat as food offered to an idol; and their conscience, being weak, is defiled.

⁸“Food will not bring us close to God.” We are no worse off if we do not eat, and no better off if we do.

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

¹⁰For if others see you, who possess knowledge, eating in the temple of an idol, might they not, since their conscience is weak, be encouraged to the point of eating food sacrificed to idols?

¹¹So by your knowledge those weak believers for whom Christ died are destroyed.

¹²But when you thus sin against members of your family, and wound their conscience when it is weak, you sin against Christ.

¹³Therefore, if food is a cause of their falling, I will never eat meat, so that I may not cause one of them to fall.

¹The saying is sure: whoever aspires to the office of bishop desires a noble task.

²Now a bishop must be above reproach, married only once, temperate, sensible, respectable, hospitable, an apt teacher,

³not a drunkard, not violent but gentle, not quarrelsome, and not a lover of money.

⁴He must manage his own household well, keeping his children submissive and respectful in every way —

⁵for if someone does not know how to manage his own household, how can he take care of God’s church?

⁶He must not be a recent convert, or he may be puffed up with conceit and fall into the condemnation of the devil.

⁷Moreover, he must be well thought of by outsiders, so that he may not fall into disgrace and the snare of the devil.

⁸Deacons likewise must be serious, not double-tongued, not indulging in much wine, not greedy for money;

⁹they must hold fast to the mystery of the faith with a clear conscience.

¹⁰And let them first be tested; then, if they prove themselves blameless, let them serve as deacons.

¹¹Women likewise must be serious, not slanderers, but temperate, faithful in all things.

¹²Let deacons be married only once, and let them manage their children and their households well;

¹³for those who serve well as deacons gain a good standing for themselves and great boldness in the faith that is in Christ Jesus.

¹⁴I hope to come to you soon, but I am writing these instructions to you so that,

¹⁵if I am delayed, you may know how one ought to behave in the household of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and bulwark of the truth.

¹⁶Without any doubt, the mystery of our religion is great: He was revealed in flesh, vindicated in spirit, seen by angels, proclaimed among Gentiles, believed in throughout the world, taken up in glory.

¹Then Job answered:

²“How you have helped one who has no power! How you have assisted the arm that has no strength!

³How you have counseled one who has no wisdom, and given much good advice!

⁴With whose help have you uttered words, and whose spirit has come forth from you?

⁵The shades below tremble, the waters and their inhabitants.

⁶Sheol is naked before God, and Abaddon has no covering.

⁷He stretches out Zaphon over the void, and hangs the earth upon nothing.

⁸He binds up the waters in his thick clouds, and the cloud is not torn open by them.

⁹He covers the face of the full moon, and spreads over it his cloud.

¹⁰He has described a circle on the face of the waters, at the boundary between light and darkness.

¹¹The pillars of heaven tremble, and are astounded at his rebuke.

¹²By his power he stilled the Sea; by his understanding he struck down Rahab.

¹³By his wind the heavens were made fair; his hand pierced the fleeing serpent.

¹⁴These are indeed but the outskirts of his ways; and how small a whisper do we hear of him! But the thunder of his power who can understand?”

¹Transgression speaks to the wicked deep in their hearts; there is no fear of God before their eyes.

²For they flatter themselves in their own eyes that their iniquity cannot be found out and hated.

³The words of their mouths are mischief and deceit; they have ceased to act wisely and do good.

⁴They plot mischief while on their beds; they are set on a way that is not good; they do not reject evil.

⁵Your steadfast love, O LORD, extends to the heavens, your faithfulness to the clouds.

⁶Your righteousness is like the mighty mountains, your judgments are like the great deep; you save humans and animals alike, O LORD.

⁷How precious is your steadfast love, O God! All people may take refuge in the shadow of your wings.

⁸They feast on the abundance of your house, and you give them drink from the river of your delights.

⁹For with you is the fountain of life; in your light we see light.

¹⁰O continue your steadfast love to those who know you, and your salvation to the upright of heart!

¹¹Do not let the foot of the arrogant tread on me, or the hand of the wicked drive me away.

¹²There the evildoers lie prostrate; they are thrust down, unable to rise.

¹Like snow in summer or rain in harvest, so honor is not fitting for a fool.

²Like a sparrow in its flitting, like a swallow in its flying, an undeserved curse goes nowhere.

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

⁴Do not answer fools according to their folly, or you will be a fool yourself.

⁵Answer fools according to their folly, or they will be wise in their own eyes.

⁶It is like cutting off one’s foot and drinking down violence, to send a message by a fool.

⁷The legs of a disabled person hang limp; so does a proverb in the mouth of a fool.

⁸It is like binding a stone in a sling to give honor to a fool.

⁹Like a thornbush brandished by the hand of a drunkard is a proverb in the mouth of a fool.

¹⁰Like an archer who wounds everybody is one who hires a passing fool or drunkard.

¹¹Like a dog that returns to its vomit is a fool who reverts to his folly.

¹²Do you see persons wise in their own eyes? There is more hope for fools than for them.

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

¹⁴As a door turns on its hinges, so does a lazy person in bed.

¹⁵The lazy person buries a hand in the dish, and is too tired to bring it back to the mouth.

¹⁶The lazy person is wiser in self-esteem than seven who can answer discreetly.

¹⁷Like somebody who takes a passing dog by the ears is one who meddles in the quarrel of another.

¹⁸Like a maniac who shoots deadly firebrands and arrows,

¹⁹so is one who deceives a neighbor and says, “I am only joking!”

²⁰For lack of wood the fire goes out, and where there is no whisperer, quarreling ceases.

²¹As charcoal is to hot embers and wood to fire, so is a quarrelsome person for kindling strife.

²²The words of a whisperer are like delicious morsels; they go down into the inner parts of the body.

²³Like the glaze covering an earthen vessel are smooth lips with an evil heart.

²⁴An enemy dissembles in speaking while harboring deceit within;

²⁵when an enemy speaks graciously, do not believe it, for there are seven abominations concealed within;

²⁶though hatred is covered with guile, the enemy’s wickedness will be exposed in the assembly.

²⁷Whoever digs a pit will fall into it, and a stone will come back on the one who starts it rolling.

²⁸A lying tongue hates its victims, and a flattering mouth works ruin.

¹Now when the king was settled in his house, and the LORD had given him rest from all his enemies around him,

²the king said to the prophet Nathan, “See now, I am living in a house of cedar, but the ark of God stays in a tent.”

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

⁴But that same night the word of the LORD came to Nathan:

⁵Go and tell my servant David: Thus says the LORD: Are you the one to build me a house to live in?

⁶I have not lived in a house since the day I brought up the people of Israel from Egypt to this day, but I have been moving about in a tent and a tabernacle.

⁷Wherever I have moved about among all the people of Israel, did I ever speak a word with any of the tribal leaders of Israel, whom I commanded to shepherd my people Israel, saying, “Why have you not built me a house of cedar?”

⁸Now therefore thus you shall say to my servant David: Thus says the LORD of hosts: I took you from the pasture, from following the sheep to be prince over my people Israel;

⁹and I have been with you wherever you went, and have cut off all your enemies from before you; and I will make for you a great name, like the name of the great ones of the earth.

¹⁰And I will appoint a place for my people Israel and will plant them, so that they may live in their own place, and be disturbed no more; and evildoers shall afflict them no more, as formerly,

¹¹from the time that I appointed judges over my people Israel; and I will give you rest from all your enemies. Moreover the LORD declares to you that the LORD will make you a house.

¹²When your days are fulfilled and you lie down with your ancestors, I will raise up your offspring after you, who shall come forth 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 a father to him, and he shall be a son to me. When he commits iniquity, I will punish him with a rod such as mortals use, with blows inflicted by human beings.

¹⁵But I will not take my steadfast love from him, as I took it from Saul, whom I put away from before you.

¹⁶Your house and your kingdom shall be made sure forever before me; your throne shall be established forever.

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

¹⁸Then King David went in and sat before the LORD, and said, “Who am I, O Lord GOD, and what is my house, that you have brought me thus far?

¹⁹And yet this was a small thing in your eyes, O Lord GOD; you have spoken also of your servant’s house for a great while to come. May this be instruction for the people, O Lord GOD!

²⁰And what more can David say to you? For you know your servant, O Lord GOD!

²¹Because of your promise, and according to your own heart, you have wrought all this greatness, so that your servant may know it.

²²Therefore you are great, O LORD God; for there is no one like you, and there is no God besides you, according to all that we have heard with our ears.

²³Who is like your people, like Israel? Is there another nation on earth whose God went to redeem it as a people, and to make a name for himself, doing great and awesome things for them, by driving out before his people nations and their gods?

²⁴And you established your people Israel for yourself to be your people forever; and you, O LORD, became their God.

²⁵And now, O LORD God, as for the word that you have spoken concerning your servant and concerning his house, confirm it forever; do as you have promised.

²⁶Thus your name will be magnified forever in the saying, ‘The LORD of hosts is God over Israel’; and the house of your servant David will be established before you.

²⁷For you, O LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, have made this revelation to your servant, saying, ‘I will build you a house’; therefore your servant has found courage to pray this prayer to you.

²⁸And now, O Lord GOD, you are God, and your words are true, and you have promised this good thing to your servant;

²⁹now therefore may it please you to bless the house of your servant, so that it may continue forever before you; for you, O Lord GOD, have spoken, and with your blessing shall the house of your servant be blessed forever.”

¹Now the priest Pashhur son of Immer, who was chief officer in the house of the LORD, heard Jeremiah prophesying these things.

²Then Pashhur struck the prophet Jeremiah, and put him in the stocks that were in the upper Benjamin Gate of the house of the LORD.

³The next morning when Pashhur released Jeremiah from the stocks, Jeremiah said to him, The LORD has named you not Pashhur but “Terror-all-around.”

⁴For thus says the LORD: I am making you a terror to yourself and to all your friends; and they shall fall by the sword of their enemies while you look on. And I will give all Judah into the hand of the king of Babylon; he shall carry them captive to Babylon, and shall kill them with the sword.

⁵I will give all the wealth of this city, all its gains, all its prized belongings, and all the treasures of the kings of Judah into the hand of their enemies, who shall plunder them, and seize them, and carry them to Babylon.

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

⁷O LORD, you have enticed me, and I was enticed; you have overpowered me, and you have prevailed. I have become a laughingstock all day long; everyone mocks me.

⁸For whenever I speak, I must cry out, I must shout, “Violence and destruction!” For the word of the LORD has become for me a reproach and derision all day long.

⁹If I say, “I will not mention him, or speak any more in his name,” then within me there is something like a burning fire shut up in my bones; I am weary with holding it in, and I cannot.

¹⁰For I hear many whispering: “Terror is all around! Denounce him! Let us denounce him!” All my close friends are watching for me to stumble. “Perhaps he can be enticed, and we can prevail against him, and take our revenge on him.”

¹¹But the LORD is with me like a dread warrior; therefore my persecutors will stumble, and they will not prevail. They will be greatly shamed, for they will not succeed. Their eternal dishonor will never be forgotten.

¹²O LORD of hosts, you test the righteous, you see the heart and the mind; let me see your retribution upon them, for to you I have committed my cause.

¹³Sing to the LORD; praise the LORD! For he has delivered the life of the needy from the hands of evildoers.

¹⁴Cursed be the day on which I was born! The day when my mother bore me, let it not be blessed!

¹⁵Cursed be the man who brought the news to my father, saying, “A child is born to you, a son,” making him very glad.

¹⁶Let that man be like the cities that the LORD overthrew without pity; let him hear a cry in the morning and an alarm at noon,

¹⁷because he did not kill me in the womb; so my mother would have been my grave, and her womb forever great.

¹⁸Why did I come forth from the womb to see toil and sorrow, and spend my days in shame?

¹After we had reached safety, we then learned that the island was called Malta.

²The natives showed us unusual kindness. Since it had begun to rain and was cold, they kindled a fire and welcomed all of us around it.

³Paul had gathered a bundle of brushwood and was putting it on the fire, when a viper, driven out by the heat, fastened itself on his hand.

⁴When the natives saw the creature hanging from his hand, they said to one another, “This man must be a murderer; though he has escaped from the sea, justice has not allowed him to live.”

⁵He, however, shook off the creature into the fire and suffered no harm.

⁶They were expecting him to swell up or drop dead, but after they had waited a long time and saw that nothing unusual had happened to him, they changed their minds and began to say that he was a god.

⁷Now in the neighborhood of that place were lands belonging to the leading man of the island, named Publius, who received us and entertained us hospitably for three days.

⁸It so happened that the father of Publius lay sick in bed with fever and dysentery. Paul visited him and cured him by praying and putting his hands on him.

⁹After this happened, the rest of the people on the island who had diseases also came and were cured.

¹⁰They bestowed many honors on us, and when we were about to sail, they put on board all the provisions we needed.

¹¹Three months later we set sail on a ship that had wintered at the island, an Alexandrian ship with the Twin Brothers as its figurehead.

¹²We put in at Syracuse and stayed there for three days;

¹³then we weighed anchor and came to Rhegium. After one day there a south wind sprang up, and on the second day we came to Puteoli.

¹⁴There we found believers and were invited to stay with them for seven days. And so we came to Rome.

¹⁵The believers from there, when they heard of us, came as far as the Forum of Appius and Three Taverns to meet us. On seeing them, Paul thanked God and took courage.

¹⁶When we came into Rome, Paul was allowed to live by himself, with the soldier who was guarding him.

¹⁷Three days later he called together the local leaders of the Jews. When they had assembled, he said to them, “Brothers, though I had done nothing against our people or the customs of our ancestors, yet I was arrested in Jerusalem and handed over to the Romans.

¹⁸When they had examined me, the Romans wanted to release me, because there was no reason for the death penalty in my case.

¹⁹But when the Jews objected, I was compelled to appeal to the emperor — even though I had no charge to bring against my nation.

²⁰For this reason therefore I have asked to see you and speak with you, since it is for the sake of the hope of Israel that I am bound with this chain.”

²¹They replied, “We have received no letters from Judea about you, and none of the brothers coming here has reported or spoken anything evil about you.

²²But we would like to hear from you what you think, for with regard to this sect we know that everywhere it is spoken against.”

²³After they had set a day to meet with him, they came to him at his lodgings in great numbers. From morning until evening he explained the matter to them, testifying to the kingdom of God and trying to convince them about Jesus both from the law of Moses and from the prophets.

²⁴Some were convinced by what he had said, while others refused to believe.

²⁵So they disagreed with each other; and as they were leaving, Paul made one further statement: “The Holy Spirit was right in saying to your ancestors through the prophet Isaiah,

²⁶‘Go to this people and say, You will indeed listen, but never understand, and you will indeed look, but never perceive.

²⁷For this people’s heart has grown dull, and their ears are hard of hearing, and they have shut their eyes; so that they might not look with their eyes, and listen with their ears, and understand with their heart and turn — and I would heal them.’

²⁸Let it be known to you then that this salvation of God has been sent to the Gentiles; they will listen.”

²⁹

³⁰He lived there two whole years at his own expense and welcomed all who came to him,

³¹proclaiming the kingdom of God and teaching about the Lord Jesus Christ with all boldness and without hindrance.