Professor Horner’s Reading Plan

John 17; Deuteronomy 12; 2 Corinthians 8; James 5; Job 42; Psalms 52; Proverbs 11; 2 Samuel 23; Jeremiah 36; Acts 16

John 17

1Jesus spoke these things; and raising His eyes to heaven, He said, “Father, the hour has come; glorify Your Son, so that the Son may glorify You,

2just as You gave Him authority over allmankind, so thatto all whom You have given Him, He may give eternal life.

3And this is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent.

4I glorified You on the earthby accomplishing the work which You have given Me to do.

5And now You, Father, glorify Me together with Yourself, with the glory which I had with You before the world existed.

6“I have revealed Your name to the men whom You gave Me out of the world; they were Yours and You gave them to Me, and they have followed Your word.

7Now they have come to know that everything which You have given Me is from You;

8for the words which You gave Me I have given to them; and they received them and truly understood that I came forth from You, and they believed that You sent Me.

9I ask on their behalf; I do not ask on behalf of the world, but on the behalf of those whom You have given Me, because they are Yours;

10and all things that are Mine are Yours, and Yours are Mine; and I have been glorified in them.

11I am no longer going to be in the world; and yet they themselves are in the world, and I am coming to You. Holy Father, keep them in Your name, the name which You have given Me, so that they may be one just as We are.

12While I was with them, I was keeping them in Your name, which You have given Me; and I guarded them, and not one of them perished except theson of destruction, so that the Scripture would be fulfilled.

13But now I am coming to You; and these things I speak in the world so that they may have My joy made full in themselves.

14I have given them Your word; and the world has hated them because they are not of the world, just as I am not of the world.

15I am not asking You to take them out of the world, but to keep them away fromthe evil one.

16They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world.

17Sanctify them in the truth; Your word is truth.

18Just as You sent Me into the world, I also sent them into the world.

19And for their sakes I sanctify Myself, so that they themselves also may be sanctified in truth.

20“I am not asking on behalf of these alone, but also for those who believe in Me through their word,

21that they may all be one; just as You, Father, are in Me and I in You, that they also may be in Us, so that the world maybelieve that You sent Me.

22The glory which You have given Me I also have given to them, so that they may be one, just as We are one;

23I in them and You in Me, that they may be perfectedin unity, so that the world mayknow that You sent Me, and You loved them, just as You loved Me.

24Father, I desire that they also, whom You have given Me, be with Me where I am, so that they may see My glory which You have given Me, for You loved Me before the foundation of the world.

25“Righteous Father, although the world has not known You, yet I have known You; and these have known that You sent Me;

26and I have made Your name known to them, and will make it known, so that the love with which You loved Me may be in them, and I in them.”

Deuteronomy 12

1“These are the statutes and the judgments which you shall carefully follow in the land which the LORD, the God of your fathers, has given you to possess as long as you live on the earth.

2You shall utterly destroy all the places where the nations whom you are going to dispossess serve their gods, on the high mountains, on the hills, and under every leafy tree.

3And you shall tear down their altars and smash their memorial stones to pieces, and burn their Asherim in the fire, and cut to pieces the carved images of their gods; and you shall eliminate their name from that place.

4You shall not act this way toward the LORD your God.

5But you shall seek the LORD at the place which the LORD your God will choose from all your tribes, to establish His name there for His dwelling, and you shall come there.

6You shall bring there your burnt offerings, your sacrifices, your tithes, the contribution of your hand, your vowed offerings, your voluntary offerings, and the firstborn of your herd and of your flock.

7There you and your households shall eat before the LORD your God, and rejoice in all your undertakings in which the LORD your God has blessed you.

8“You shall not do at all what we are doing here today, everyone doing whatever is right in his own eyes;

9for you have not as yet come to the resting place and the inheritance which the LORD your God is giving you.

10When you cross the Jordan and live in the land which the LORD your God is giving you as an inheritance, and He gives you rest from all your enemies around you so that you live in security,

11then it shall come about that the place in which the LORD your God will choose for His name to dwell, there you shall bring everything that I command you: your burnt offerings and your sacrifices, your tithes and the contribution of your hand, and all your choice vowed offerings which you will vow to the LORD.

12And you shall rejoice before the LORD your God, you and your sons and daughters, your male and female slaves, and the Levite who is within your gates, since he has no portion or inheritance with you.

13“Be careful that you do not offer your burnt offerings in any cultic place that you see,

14but only in the place which the LORD chooses in one of your tribes: there you shall offer your burnt offerings, and there you shall do everything that I command you.

15“However, you may slaughter and eat meat within any of your gates, whatever you desire, according to the blessing of the LORD your God which He has given you; the unclean and the clean alike may eat it, as the gazelle and the deer.

16Only you shall not eat the blood; you are to pour it out on the ground like water.

17You are not allowed to eat within your gates the tithe of your grain, new wine, or oil, or the firstborn of your herd or flock, or any of your vowed offerings which you vow, or your voluntary offerings, or the contribution of your hand.

18But you shall eat them before the LORD your God in the place which the LORD your God will choose, you and your son and daughter, and your male and female slaves, and the Levite who is within your gates; and you shall rejoice before the LORD your God in all your undertakings.

19Be careful that you do not abandon the Levite as long as you live in your land.

20“When the LORD your God extends your border as He has promised you, and you say, ‘I will eat meat,’ because you desire to eat meat, then you may eat meat, whatever you desire.

21If the place where the LORD your God chooses to put His name is too far from you, then you may slaughter animals from your herd and flock which the LORD has given you, as I have commanded you; and you may eat within your gates whatever you desire.

22Just as a gazelle or a deer is eaten, so you may eat it; the unclean and the clean alike may eat it.

23Only be sure not to eat the blood, for the blood is the life, and you shall not eat the life with the flesh.

24You shall not eat it; you shall pour it out on the ground like water.

25You shall not eat it, so that it may go well for you and your sons after you, since you will be doing what is right in the sight of the LORD.

26Only your holy things which you may have and your vowed offerings, you shall take and go to the place which the LORD chooses.

27And you shall offer your burnt offerings, the flesh and the blood, on the altar of the LORD your God; and the blood of your sacrifices shall be poured out on the altar of the LORD your God, and you shall eat the flesh.

28“Be careful and listen to all these words which I am commanding you, so that it may go well for you and your sons after you forever, for you will be doing what is good and right in the sight of the LORD your God.

29“When the LORD your God cuts off from you the nations which you are going in to dispossess, and you dispossess them and live in their land,

30be careful that you are not ensnared to follow them, after they are destroyed from your presence, and that you do not inquire about their gods, saying, ‘How do these nations serve their gods, that I also may do likewise?’

31You shall not behave this way toward the LORD your God, because every abominable act which the LORD hates, they have done for their gods; for they even burn their sons and daughters in the fire for their gods.

32“Whatever I command you, you shall be careful to do; you shall not add to nor take anything away from it.

2 Corinthians 8

1Now, brothers and sisters, we make known to you the grace of God which has been given in the churches of Macedonia,

2that in a great ordeal of affliction their abundance of joy and their deep poverty overflowed in the wealth of their liberality.

3For I testify that according to their ability, and beyond their ability, they gave voluntarily,

4begging us with much urging for the favor of participation in the support of the saints,

5and this, not as we had expected, but they first gave themselves to the Lord and to us by the will of God.

6So we urged Titus that as he had previously made a beginning, so he would also complete in you this gracious work as well.

7But just as you excel in everything, in faith, speaking, knowledge, and in all earnestness and in the love we inspired in you, see that you also excel in this gracious work.

8I am not saying this as a command, but as proving, through the earnestness of others, the sincerity of your love as well.

9For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though He was rich, yet for your sake He became poor, so that you through His poverty might become rich.

10I give my opinion in this matter, for this is to your advantage, who were the first to begin a year ago not only to do this, but also to desire to do it.

11But now finish doing it also, so that just as there was the willingness to desire it, so there may be also the completion of it by your ability.

12For if the willingness is present, it is acceptable according to what a person has, not according to what he does not have.

13For this is not for the relief of others and for your hardship, but by way of equality—

14at this present time your abundance will serve as assistance for their need, so that their abundance also may serve as assistance for your need, so that there may be equality;

15as it is written: “THE ONE WHO had gathered much did not have too much, AND THE ONE WHO had gathered little did not have too little.”

16But thanks be to God who puts the same earnestness in your behalf in the heart of Titus.

17For he not only accepted our appeal, but being himself very earnest, he has gone to you of his own accord.

18We have sent along with him the brother whose fame in the things of the gospel has spread through all the churches;

19and not only that, but he has also been appointed by the churches to travel with us in this gracious work, which is being administered by us for the glory of the Lord Himself, and to show our readiness,

20taking precaution so that no one will discredit us in our administration of this generous gift;

21for we have regard for what is honorable, not only in the sight of the Lord, but also in the sight of other people.

22We have sent with them our brother, whom we have often tested and found diligent in many things, but now even more diligent because of his great confidence in you.

23As for Titus, he is my partner and fellow worker among you; as for our brothers, they are messengers of the churches, a glory to Christ.

24Therefore, openly before the churches, show them the proof of your love and of our reason for boasting about you.

James 5

1Come now, you rich people, weep and howl for your miseries which are coming upon you.

2Your riches have rotted and your garments have become moth-eaten.

3Your gold and your silver have corroded, and their corrosion will serve as a testimony against you and will consume your flesh like fire. It is in the last days that you have stored up your treasure!

4Behold, the pay of the laborers who mowed your fields, and which has been withheld by you, cries out against you; and the outcry of those who did the harvesting has reached the ears of the Lord of armies.

5You have lived for pleasure on the earth and lived luxuriously; you have fattened your hearts in a day of slaughter.

6You have condemned and put to death the righteous person; he offers you no resistance.

7Therefore be patient, brothers and sisters, until the coming of the Lord. The farmer waits for the precious produce of the soil, being patient about it, until it gets the early and late rains.

8You too be patient; strengthen your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is near.

9Do not complain, brothers and sisters, against one another, so that you may not be judged; behold, the Judge is standing right at the door.

10As an example, brothers and sisters, of suffering and patience, take the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord.

11We count those blessed who endured. You have heard of the endurance of Job and have seen the outcome of the Lord’s dealings, that the Lord is full of compassion and is merciful.

12But above all, my brothers and sisters, do not swear, either by heaven or by earth or with any other oath; but your yes is to be yes, and your no, no, so that you do not fall under judgment.

13Is anyone among you suffering? Then he must pray. Is anyone cheerful? He is to sing praises.

14Is anyone among you sick? Then he must call for the elders of the church and they are to pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord;

15and the prayer of faith will restore the one who is sick, and the Lord will raise him up, and if he has committed sins, they will be forgiven him.

16Therefore, confess your sins to one another, and pray for one another so that you may be healed. A prayer of a righteous person, when it is brought about, can accomplish much.

17Elijah was a man with a nature like ours, and he prayed earnestly that it would not rain, and it did not rain on the earth for three years and six months.

18Then he prayed again, and the sky poured rain and the earth produced its fruit.

19My brothers and sisters, if anyone among you strays from the truth and someone turns him back,

20let him know that the one who has turned a sinner from the error of his way will save his soul from death and cover a multitude of sins.

Job 42

1Then Job answered the LORD and said,

2“I know that You can do all things, And that no plan is impossible for You.

3‘Who is this who conceals advice without knowledge?’ Therefore I have declared that which I did not understand, Things too wonderful for me, which I do not know.

4‘Please listen, and I will speak; I will ask You, and You instruct me.’

5I have heard of You by the hearing of the ear; But now my eye sees You;

6Therefore I retract, And I repent, sitting on dust and ashes.”

7It came about after the LORD had spoken these words to Job, that the LORD said to Eliphaz the Temanite, “My wrath is kindled against you and against your two friends, because you have not spoken of Me what is trustworthy, as My servant Job has.

8Now therefore, take for yourselves seven bulls and seven rams, and go to My servant Job, and offer up a burnt offering for yourselves, and My servant Job will pray for you. For I will accept him so as not to do with you as your foolishness deserves, because you have not spoken of Me what is trustworthy, as My servant Job has.

9So Eliphaz the Temanite, Bildad the Shuhite, and Zophar the Naamathite went and did as the LORD told them; and the LORD accepted Job.

10The LORD also restored the fortunes of Job when he prayed for his friends, and the LORD increased double all that Job had.

11Then all his brothers, all his sisters, and all who had known him before came to him, and they ate bread with him in his house; and they sympathized with him and comforted him for all the adversities that the LORD had brought on him. And each one gave him a piece of money, and each a ring of gold.

12The LORD blessed the latter days of Job more than his beginning; and he had fourteen thousand sheep, six thousand camels, a thousand yoke of oxen, and a thousand female donkeys.

13He also had seven sons and three daughters.

14He named the first Jemimah, the second Keziah, and the third Keren-happuch.

15In all the land no women were found as beautiful as Job’s daughters; and their father gave them inheritances among their brothers.

16After this, Job lived 140 years, and saw his sons and his grandsons, four generations.

17And Job died, an old man and full of days.

Psalms 52

1Why do you boast in evil, you mighty man? The faithfulness of God endures all day long.

2Your tongue devises destruction, Like a sharp razor, you worker of deceit.

3You love evil more than good, Lies more than speaking what is right. Selah

4You love all words that devour, You deceitful tongue.

5But God will break you down forever; He will snatch you up and tear you away from your tent, And uproot you from the land of the living. Selah

6The righteous will see and fear, And they will laugh at him, saying,

7“Behold, the man who would not make God his refuge, But trusted in the abundance of his riches And was strong in his evil desire.”

8But as for me, I am like a green olive tree in the house of God; I trust in the faithfulness of God forever and ever.

9I will praise You forever, because You have done it, And I will wait on Your name, for it is good, in the presence of Your godly ones.

Proverbs 11

1A false balance is an abomination to the LORD, But a just weight is His delight.

2When pride comes, then comes dishonor; But with the humble there is wisdom.

3The integrity of the upright will guide them, But the perversity of the treacherous will destroy them.

4Riches do not benefit on the day of wrath, But righteousness rescues from death.

5The righteousness of the blameless will smooth his way, But the wicked will fall by his own wickedness.

6The righteousness of the upright will rescue them, But the treacherous will be caught by their own greed.

7When a wicked person dies, his expectation will perish, And the hope of strong people perishes.

8The righteous is rescued from trouble, But the wicked takes his place.

9With his mouth the godless person destroys his neighbor, But through knowledge the righteous will be rescued.

10When things go well for the righteous, the city rejoices, And when the wicked perish, there is joyful shouting.

11By the blessing of the upright a city is exalted, But by the mouth of the wicked, it is torn down.

12One who despises his neighbor lacks sense, But a person of understanding keeps silent.

13One who goes about as a slanderer reveals secrets, But one who is trustworthy conceals a matter.

14Where there is no guidance the people fall, But in an abundance of counselors there is victory.

15One who is a guarantor for a stranger will certainly suffer for it, But one who hates being a guarantor is secure.

16A gracious woman attains honor, And ruthless men attain riches.

17A merciful person does himself good, But the cruel person does himself harm.

18A wicked person earns deceptive wages, But one who sows righteousness gets a true reward.

19One who is steadfast in righteousness attains life, But one who pursues evil attains his own death.

20The perverse in heart are an abomination to the LORD, But the blameless in their walk are His delight.

21Be assured, the evil person will not go unpunished, But the descendants of the righteous will be rescued.

22As a ring of gold in a pig’s snout So is a beautiful woman who lacks discretion.

23The desire of the righteous is only good, But the expectation of the wicked is wrath.

24There is one who scatters, and yet increases all the more, And there is one who withholds what is justly due, and yet it results only in poverty.

25A generous person will be prosperous, And one who gives others plenty of water will himself be given plenty.

26One who withholds grain, the people will curse him, But blessing will be on the head of him who sells it.

27One who diligently seeks good seeks favor, But one who seeks evil, evil will come to him.

28One who trusts in his riches will fall, But the righteous will flourish like the green leaf.

29One who troubles his own house will inherit wind, And the foolish will be servant to the wise-hearted.

30The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life, And one who is wise gains souls.

31If the righteous will be repaid on the earth, How much more the wicked and the sinner!

2 Samuel 23

1Now these are the last words of David. David the son of Jesse declares, The man who was raised on high, The anointed of the God of Jacob And the sweet psalmist of Israel, declares,

2“The Spirit of the LORD spoke through me, And His word was on my tongue.

3The God of Israel said it; The Rock of Israel spoke to me: ‘He who rules over mankind righteously, Who rules in the fear of God,

4Is like the light of the morning when the sun rises, A morning without clouds, When the fresh grass springs out of the earth From sunshine after rain.’

5Is my house not indeed so with God? For He has made an everlasting covenant with me, Properly ordered in all things, and secured; For will He not indeed make All my salvation and all my delight grow?

6But the worthless, every one of them, are like scattered thorns, Because they cannot be taken in hand;

7Instead, the man who touches them Must be armed with iron and the shaft of a spear, And they will be completely burned with fire in their place.”

8These are the names of the mighty men whom David had: Josheb-basshebeth, a Tahchemonite, chief of the captains; he was called Adino the Eznite because of eight hundred who were killed by him at one time.

9And after him was Eleazar the son of Dodo the Ahohite, one of the three mighty men with David when they defied the Philistines who were gathered there to battle and the men of Israel had withdrawn.

10He rose up and struck the Philistines until his hand was weary and it clung to the sword, and the LORD brought about a great victory that day; and the people returned after him only to plunder the dead.

11Now after him was Shammah the son of Agee, a Hararite. And the Philistines were gathered into an army where there was a plot of land full of lentils, and the people fled from the Philistines.

12But he took his stand in the midst of the plot, defended it, and struck the Philistines; and the LORD brought about a great victory.

13Then three of the thirty chief men went down and came to David at harvest time to the cave of Adullam, while the army of the Philistines was camping in the Valley of Rephaim.

14David was then in the stronghold, while the garrison of the Philistines was then in Bethlehem.

15And David had a craving and said, “Oh that someone would give me water to drink from the well of Bethlehem which is by the gate!”

16So the three mighty men forced their way into the camp of the Philistines, and drew water from the well of Bethlehem which was by the gate, and carried it and brought it to David. Yet he would not drink it, but poured it out as an offering to the LORD;

17and he said, “Far be it from me, LORD, that I would do this! Should I drink the blood of the men who went at the risk of their lives?” So he would not drink it. These things the three mighty men did.

18Now Abishai, the brother of Joab, the son of Zeruiah, was chief of the thirty. And he swung his spear against three hundred and killed them, and had a name as well as the three.

19He was the most honored among the thirty, so he became their commander; however, he did not attain to the reputation of the three.

20Then Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, the son of a valiant man of Kabzeel, who had done great deeds, killed the two sons of Ariel of Moab. He also went down and killed a lion in the middle of a pit on a snowy day.

21And he killed an Egyptian, an impressive man. Now the Egyptian had a spear in his hand, but he went down to him with a club and snatched the spear from the Egyptian’s hand, and killed him with his own spear.

22These things Benaiah the son of Jehoiada did, and had a name as well as the three mighty men.

23He was honored among the thirty, but he did not attain the reputation of the three. And David appointed him over his bodyguard.

24Asahel the brother of Joab was among the thirty; and there was Elhanan the son of Dodo of Bethlehem,

25Shammah the Harodite, Elika the Harodite,

26Helez the Paltite, Ira the son of Ikkesh the Tekoite,

27Abiezer the Anathothite, Mebunnai the Hushathite,

28Zalmon the Ahohite, Maharai the Netophathite,

29Heleb the son of Baanah the Netophathite, Ittai the son of Ribai of Gibeah of the sons of Benjamin,

30Benaiah a Pirathonite, Hiddai of the brooks of Gaash,

31Abi-albon the Arbathite, Azmaveth the Barhumite,

32Eliahba the Shaalbonite, the sons of Jashen, Jonathan,

33Shammah the Hararite, Ahiam the son of Sharar the Ararite,

34Eliphelet the son of Ahasbai, the son of the Maacathite, Eliam the son of Ahithophel the Gilonite,

35Hezro the Carmelite, Paarai the Arbite,

36Igal the son of Nathan of Zobah, Bani the Gadite,

37Zelek the Ammonite, Naharai the Beerothite, armor bearers of Joab the son of Zeruiah,

38Ira the Ithrite, Gareb the Ithrite,

39and Uriah the Hittite; thirty-seven in all.

Jeremiah 36

1In the fourth year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah, this word came to Jeremiah from the LORD, saying,

2“Take a scroll and write on it all the words which I have spoken to you concerning Israel, Judah, and all the nations, from the day I first spoke to you, from the days of Josiah, even to this day.

3Perhaps the house of Judah will listen to all the disaster which I plan to carry out against them, so that every person will turn from his evil way; then I will forgive their wrongdoing and their sin.”

4Then Jeremiah called Baruch the son of Neriah, and Baruch wrote on a scroll at the dictation of Jeremiah all the words of the LORD which He had spoken to him.

5Jeremiah then commanded Baruch, saying, “I am restricted; I cannot go into the house of the LORD.

6So you go and read from the scroll, which you have written at my dictation, the words of the LORD to the people at the LORD’S house on a day of fasting. And you shall also read them to all the people of Judah who come from their cities.

7Perhaps their pleading will come before the LORD, and everyone will turn from his evil way; for great is the anger and the wrath that the LORD has pronounced against this people.”

8So Baruch the son of Neriah acted in accordance with all that Jeremiah the prophet commanded him, reading from the book the words of the LORD in the LORD’S house.

9Now in the fifth year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah, in the ninth month, all the people in Jerusalem and all the people who came from the cities of Judah to Jerusalem proclaimed a fast before the LORD.

10Then Baruch read to all the people from the book the words of Jeremiah in the house of the LORD in the chamber of Gemariah the son of Shaphan the scribe, in the upper courtyard, at the entry of the New Gate of the LORD’S house.

11Now when Micaiah the son of Gemariah, the son of Shaphan, had heard all the words of the LORD from the book,

12he went down to the king’s house, into the scribe’s chamber. And behold, all the officials were sitting there—Elishama the scribe, Delaiah the son of Shemaiah, Elnathan the son of Achbor, Gemariah the son of Shaphan, Zedekiah the son of Hananiah, and all the other officials.

13And Micaiah declared to them all the words that he had heard when Baruch read from the book to the people.

14Then all the officials sent Jehudi the son of Nethaniah, who was the son of Shelemiah, the son of Cushi, to Baruch, saying, “Take in your hand the scroll from which you have read to the people and come.” So Baruch the son of Neriah took the scroll in his hand and came to them.

15And they said to him, “Sit down, please, and read it to us.” So Baruch read it to them.

16When they had heard all the words, they turned in fear one to another. And they said to Baruch, “We will certainly report all these words to the king.”

17Then they asked Baruch, saying, “Tell us, please, how did you write all these words? Was it at Jeremiah’s dictation?”

18And Baruch said to them, “He dictated all these words to me, and I wrote them with ink on the book.”

19Then the officials said to Baruch, “Go, hide yourself, you and Jeremiah, and do not let anyone know where you are.”

20So they came to the king in the courtyard, but they had deposited the scroll in the chamber of Elishama the scribe; and they reported all the words to the king.

21Then the king sent Jehudi to get the scroll, and he took it out of the chamber of Elishama the scribe. And Jehudi read it to the king as well as to all the officials who were standing beside the king.

22Now the king was sitting in the winter house in the ninth month, with a fire burning in the brazier before him.

23And when Jehudi had read three or four columns, the king cut it with a scribe’s knife and threw it into the fire that was in the brazier, until all of the scroll was consumed in the fire that was in the brazier.

24Yet the king and all his servants who heard all these words did not tremble in fear, nor did they tear their garments.

25Even though Elnathan, Delaiah, and Gemariah urged the king not to burn the scroll, he would not listen to them.

26And the king commanded Jerahmeel the king’s son, Seraiah the son of Azriel, and Shelemiah the son of Abdeel to seize Baruch the scribe and Jeremiah the prophet, but the LORD hid them.

27Then the word of the LORD came to Jeremiah after the king had burned the scroll and the words which Baruch had written at the dictation of Jeremiah, saying,

28“Take again another scroll and write on it all the previous words that were on the first scroll, which Jehoiakim the king of Judah burned.

29And concerning Jehoiakim king of Judah you shall say, ‘This is what the LORD says: “You have burned this scroll, saying, ‘Why have you written on it that the king of Babylon will certainly come and destroy this land, and will make mankind and animals disappear from it?’ ”

30Therefore this is what the LORD says concerning Jehoiakim king of Judah: “He shall have no one to sit on the throne of David, and his dead body shall be thrown out to the heat of the day and the frost of the night.

31I will also punish him, his descendants, and his servants for their wrongdoing, and I will bring on them and the inhabitants of Jerusalem and the people of Judah all the disaster that I have declared to them—but they did not listen.” ’ ”

32Then Jeremiah took another scroll and gave it to the scribe Baruch the son of Neriah, and he wrote on it at the dictation of Jeremiah all the words of the book which Jehoiakim king of Judah had burned in the fire; and many similar words were added to them.

Acts 16

1Now Paul also came to Derbe and to Lystra. And a disciple was there, named Timothy, the son of a Jewish woman who was a believer, but his father was a Greek,

2and he was well spoken of by the brothers and sisters who were in Lystra and Iconium.

3Paul wanted this man to leave with him; and he took him and circumcised him because of the Jews who were in those parts, for they all knew that his father was a Greek.

4Now while they were passing through the cities, they were delivering the ordinances for them to follow which had been determined by the apostles and elders in Jerusalem.

5So the churches were being strengthened in the faith, and were increasing in number daily.

6They passed through the Phrygian and Galatian region, after being forbidden by the Holy Spirit to speak the word in Asia;

7and after they came to Mysia, they were trying to go into Bithynia, and the Spirit of Jesus did not allow them;

8and passing by Mysia, they went down to Troas.

9And a vision appeared to Paul in the night: a man of Macedonia was standing and pleading with him, and saying, “Come over to Macedonia and help us.”

10When he had seen the vision, we immediately sought to leave for Macedonia, concluding that God had called us to preach the gospel to them.

11So after setting sail from Troas, we ran a straight course to Samothrace, and on the following day to Neapolis;

12and from there to Philippi, which is a leading city of the district of Macedonia, a Roman colony; and we were spending some days in this city.

13And on the Sabbath day we went outside the gate to a riverside, where we were thinking that there was a place of prayer; and we sat down and began speaking to the women who had assembled.

14A woman named Lydia was listening; she was a seller of purple fabrics from the city of Thyatira, and a worshiper of God. The Lord opened her heart to respond to the things spoken by Paul.

15Now when she and her household had been baptized, she urged us, saying, “If you have judged me to be faithful to the Lord, come into my house and stay.” And she prevailed upon us.

16It happened that as we were going to the place of prayer, a slave woman who had a spirit of divination met us, who was bringing great profit to her masters by fortune-telling.

17She followed Paul and us and cried out repeatedly, saying, “These men are bond-servants of the Most High God, who are proclaiming to you a way of salvation.”

18Now she continued doing this for many days. But Paul was greatly annoyed, and he turned and said to the spirit, “I command you in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her!” And it came out at that very moment.

19But when her masters saw that their hope of profit was suddenly gone, they seized Paul and Silas and dragged them into the marketplace before the authorities,

20and when they had brought them to the chief magistrates, they said, “These men, Jews as they are, are causing our city trouble,

21and they are proclaiming customs that are not lawful for us to accept or to practice, since we are Romans.”

22The crowd joined in an attack against them, and the chief magistrates tore their robes off them and proceeded to order them to be beaten with rods.

23When they had struck them with many blows, they threw them into prison, commanding the jailer to guard them securely;

24and he, having received such a command, threw them into the inner prison and fastened their feet in the stocks.

25Now about midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns of praise to God, and the prisoners were listening to them;

26and suddenly there was a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison were shaken; and immediately all the doors were opened, and everyone’s chains were unfastened.

27When the jailer awoke and saw the prison doors opened, he drew his sword and was about to kill himself, thinking that the prisoners had escaped.

28But Paul called out with a loud voice, saying, “Do not harm yourself, for we are all here!”

29And the jailer asked for lights and rushed in, and trembling with fear, he fell down before Paul and Silas;

30and after he brought them out, he said, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?”

31They said, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and your household.”

32And they spoke the word of God to him together with all who were in his house.

33And he took them that very hour of the night and washed their wounds, and immediately he was baptized, he and all his household.

34And he brought them into his house and set food before them, and was overjoyed, since he had become a believer in God together with his whole household.

35Now when day came, the chief magistrates sent their officers, saying, “Release those men.”

36And the jailer reported these words to Paul, saying, “The chief magistrates have sent word that you be released. So come out now and go in peace.”

37But Paul said to them, “After beating us in public without due process—men who are Romans—they threw us into prison; and now they are releasing us secretly? No indeed! On the contrary, let them come in person and lead us out.”

38The officers reported these words to the chief magistrates. And they became fearful when they heard that they were Romans,

39and they came and pleaded with them, and when they had led them out, they repeatedly asked them to leave the city.

40They left the prison and entered the house of Lydia, and when they saw the brothers and sisters, they encouraged them and departed.